Drawbacks to Critical Thinking

There can be drawbacks to being a critical thinker. Some people are offended by being challenged. They do not
like being questioned or they can’t tolerate people who disagree with them. Some people’s worldviews are
antithetical to critical thinking. Such people may be friends or family members, and critical thinking may alienate
you from them. People who love you may think you are being corrupted by critical thinking. The more critically
you think, the more likely it is that you will change your views on many important issues. These changes may not
only cause friction with others; they may cause some discomfort in your own life as you try to adjust to giving up
attitudes and beliefs you’ve held since childhood. You may even find yourself coming to believe things that once
seemed obviously false to you. Many of you will have been encouraged to think critically all of your lives and there
will be few drawbacks to developing your skills even further. Others, however, may have a more difficult time of
it. You will have to decide for yourself what you value more: being an independent thinker or having the approval
of people who do not value independent thinking.
Exercises
1. Describe each of the following hindrances to critical thinking and suggest ways to overcome them: the pressure to
conform; prejudice or bias; lack of adequate background knowledge (ignorance); the tendency to accept claims made
by experts and authorities; fatigue or stress; confirmation bias; communal reinforcement; anger; laziness; pride; selfdeception
and wishful thinking; censorship.
2. Pick one of the professions mentioned by Thouless in the passage quoted on page 15 and discuss how the members
of that profession exercise their power in ways that encourage us to be uncritical, passive recipients of their claims. Do
these professions have the same influence today that they had in Thouless’ day (ca. 1950)? What professions, if any,
would you add to this list today?
3. Imagine that you are on the local Library Board and some citizens have complained that a newspaper which you
allow to be distributed in the lobby of the library often contains material with graphic sexual descriptions. They say
that they are concerned that the material can be easily obtained by children. You must vote on whether or not to allow
the paper to continue to be distributed in the library lobby. How would you vote and what arguments would you
make to persuade the other board members to agree with you?
4. Write a short essay, describing what you hope to gain by becoming a more critical thinker.
Chapter One Self-test: true or false? (Check your answers in Answers to Selected Exercises.)
1. Critical thinking is clear and accurate thinking which aims at evaluating the justification of beliefs and actions.
2. Two equally intelligent people can be equally articulate and informed, but not be equally critical thinkers.
3. The standards of evaluation used by critical thinkers originated at the First International Conference on Critical Thinking
at Sonoma State University.
4. Self-confidence and a sense of being in control of one’s beliefs are the two main personal benefits of being a critical
thinker.
5. Having the proper attitude is sufficient to guarantee the development of critical thinking.
6. To be open-minded means accepting that we could be in error.
7. Studies on memory have shown that we often construct our memories after the fact.
8. Authorities themselves, in all areas, do much to perpetuate their power and convince the rest of us that it is a good thing to
accept their claims uncritically.
9. Facts are those things that are infallibly certain.
10. Being open-minded means believing that all ideas are equally reasonable: there can be no justification for believing one
idea over another.
11. Confirmation bias is a kind of prejudice one develops from seeking to confirm beliefs one knows to be false.
12. Developing the proper attitude toward experts and authorities comes naturally to most people.
13. A person’s skepticism is healthy if it leads him or her to doubt everything said by anyone who is an expert or authority in
some field.
14. An option is a living option, in William James’s sense of the expression, when it is possible to seriously consider
believing that option.
15. Because scientists are trained in scientific methods, they are not subject to confirmation bias.
16. We should expect critical thinking to lead to universal agreement on important issues.
17. Studies have shown that under hypnosis a person’s memory accuracy increases 100%.
18. The fact that a person remembers something very vividly in clear detail is sufficient proof that the memory is accurate.
19. Critical thinking demonstrates that ultimately no viewpoint is better than any other; all viewpoints are equally reasonable
and justifiable.
20. There are many sets of values and principles by which reasonable people can and do live.
21. Ethnocentrism is the belief that our own culture is the standard of truth and reality.
22. Every society discourages ethnocentrism and encourages challenging traditional beliefs and values.
23. Critical thinking is not concerned with evaluating the justification of beliefs and actions.
24. Most people can usually perceive clearly and make good judgments while terrified, angry or jealous.
25. Overcoming the social pressure to conform is easy for most people.
26. A person’s worldview is his or her basic view about the state of the world.
27. Communal reinforcement is support given to a community for its unpopular views.
28. Every observation is an interpretation of one’s perceptions.
29. The psychological fact of suggestion is the fact that if statements are made again and again in a confident manner, without
argument or proof, then their hearers will tend to believe them quite independently of their soundness and of the presence or
absence of evidence for their truth.
30. The Socratic Method refers to a method of questioning and cross-examination of positions.
31. According to Giles St. Aubyn, human beings have an instinctive desire to conform.
32. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to the ability to think critically is ignorance, the lack of essential background knowledge.
33. The better one is at critically evaluating arguments, the less self-confidence one will have.
34. The philosopher Descartes believed that the only way to overcome personal prejudices and preconceived notions would
be to doubt everything one believes and start over by developing a method that would guarantee absolute certainty.
35. A critical thinker is able to solve all problems and arrive at absolute certainty in all matters.