1. LS100 Eight Skills Prof. Jane McElligott

2.  A key part of critical thinking is eliminating bias and prejudice from one’s thought process. “A Class Divided” at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/ illustrates how children and adults often think and act based on preconceived notions based on “ethnocentrism” and discriminate against others. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/  “Ethnocentrism is a specific form of stereotyping which holds one's own nationality, religion, or cultural traditions and customs as superior to others. This attitude emphasizes the differences between one's own group and others which are considered inferior.” http://infotrac.thomsonlearning.com/infowrite/critical.html. http://infotrac.thomsonlearning.com/infowrite/critical.html  Awesome YouTube video on ethnocentrism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSJFBeVFtak&feature=player_embedd ed# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSJFBeVFtak&feature=player_embedd ed#

3.  “Critical thinking is the ability to think for yourself by weighing evidence and facts. The result is to come up with your own thoughts and opinions, without undue influence from anything or anyone else.” http://www.experienceproject.com/dictionary/definition-of/Critical- Thinking. http://www.experienceproject.com/dictionary/definition-of/Critical- Thinking  Critical thinking is “about proof, logic, evidence, and developing ideas and opinions based on hard-core facts or credible research. … Critical thinking is about making informed, enlightened, educated, open-minded decisions …” (Chapter 9 Cornerstone, pages 204 - 205). Critical reasoning is logical reasoning based on facts and evidence.

4.  “You teach yourselves the law. I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and if you survive, you'll leave thinking like a lawyer.” Prof. Kingsfield, The Paper Chase. http://www.thresholdconcepts2010.unsw.edu.au/Abstracts/J amesN.pdf. http://www.thresholdconcepts2010.unsw.edu.au/Abstracts/J amesN.pdf

5.  Thinking like a lawyer”: Critical thinking in the law, engaging in formal legal reasoning: recognizing legal issues, locating and understanding the relevant legal rules, applying the rules to the facts of a problem, and reaching a justifiable conclusion.”  Consists of problem solving that involves listening to the client’s problem, researching for case law and statutory law on point, applying that law to the client’s legal problem, and coming up with a logical conclusion regarding how to best handle the client’s case and form the arguments to win or defend the case, depending on which side your client is on.

6.  The picture below illustrates a professor of law from the old days who researched his law books and found a case on point for this young lawyer to cite in representing his client case.

7.  Critical thinking goes back to Socrates, a very cool guy in Athens around 300 B.C.E. – he went around engaging in probing questioning of those who claimed to be great philosophers and who asserted that they “knew all.” The townspeople would watch as these philosophers were unable to “rationally justify their confident claims to knowledge. Confused meanings, inadequate evidence, or self-contradictory beliefs often lurked beneath smooth but largely empty rhetoric.”  Socrates demonstrated that some people may have power and esteemed positions, but not really know all that they pretend to know. “He established the importance of asking deep questions that probe profoundly into thinking before we accept ideas as worthy of belief.” http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/briefHistoryCT.cfm. http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/briefHistoryCT.cfm

8.  Socrates, through clever cross-examination, would lead supposedly brilliant philosophers and know-it-alls into a state of confusion. One of Socrates’ famous quotes is, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” meaning how important it is to question concepts and those in authority (and in these days, question the media as well).  Socrates was very humble and he said of the know-it-all philosophers: “The arrogant do not examine their views. They are not worth imitating.”

9.  Socrates was often trailed by students who wanted to follow in his footsteps and just as he cross-examined the so-called experts, he “engaged in the questioning of his students in an unending search for truth.” http://www.law.uchicago.edu/prospectives/lifeofthemind/socraticmethod. http://www.law.uchicago.edu/prospectives/lifeofthemind/socraticmethod  Just as Socrates asked continuous, never-ending questions in a quest for truth, law professors today employing the Socratic method take this approach, asking students one question after another about a case or legal concept to make the students analyze the issues themselves and apply critical thinking to come up with the answer.  This is Prof. Kingsfield’s approach – rather than lecturing students on legal concepts, he made them learn the law themselves by discovering such concepts themselves through tenacious questioning.

10.  Open-minded and objective  Non-ethnocentric  Honest with themselves and others  Seek truth in all matters  Use credible sources  Question situations and assumptions  Not judgmental  Willing to change  Make their own decisions  Are creative  Use a variety of research for evaluation  Are skeptical

11. 1. Restraining Emotions 2. Looking at Things Differently 3. Analyzing Information 4. Asking Questions 5. Solving Problems 6. Determining Fact from Opinion

12.  Emotions make us compassionate and ready to help others; it would be a cold world without emotions. But when it comes to thinking and analyzing, don’t let your emotions take over. If you quickly jump to conclusions on heated controversial issues, such as affirmative action, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc., based only on emotion, this is not critical thinking – you have to try your best to set emotions aside and stop them from clouding the issue.  Don’t make judgments based on your emotions or gut feelings or on what you’ve always heard and believed (preconceived notions) – wait until you have a chance to research the issue and consider it objectively. When emotions go wild, we don’t use logical reasoning and evidence.  Research and listen to both sides on an issue; if your heart is racing, your face is beat red, and your hands are sweaty, you know your emotions are getting the best of you.

13.  An important aspect of critical thinking is the ability to look at an issue from different angles and “with different eyes” – consider all perspectives and be creative in thinking up solutions; employ creative thinking – think outside the box.

14.  Take a look at this visual image – look at it for a while and you’ll soon see a whole new perspective:

17. 1. SW and the 7 D 2. I H a D by MLK 3. 2 P’s in a P 4. HDD (TMRUTC) 5. 3 S to a T 6. 100 P in a D 7. T no PHL 8. 4 Q in a G 9. I a SWAA 10. 50 S in TU

18. 1. SW and the 7 D: Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs 2. I H a D by MLK: “I Had a Dream” by Martin Luther King 3. 2 P’s in a P: Two Peas in a Pod 4. HDD (TMRUTC): Hickory Dickory Dock, The Mouse Ran up the Clock 5. 3 S to a T: Three Sides to a Triangle 6. 100 P in a D: 100 Pennies in a Dollar 7. T no PHL: There is no Place Like Home 8. 4 Q in a G: 4 Quarts in a Gallon 9. I a SWAA: It’s a Small World After All 10. 50 S in TU: 50 States in the Union

19.  Analyzing is dissecting a problem – breaking it up and engaging in step by step analysis.  Create a chart such as the one shown on page 210 of Chapter 9 of Cornerstone, asking the key question you’re analyzing and then putting your answers in Column A and the detailed reasons and supporting facts for these answers in Column B. Cite sources for the facts and statistics you put into Column B – remember to “Show me the Law!” and back up your answers.

20.  Just as Socrates cross-examined the philosophers of his day and just like little kids ask “why” to everything, this is exactly what you want to do as a key part of critical thinking.  Question and ask follow-up questions to learn all you can about a topic and as Socrates did, see if someone’s argument or statements are valid by cross-examining them about their conclusions – can they support such conclusions with evidence or do they have nothing to back themselves up?

21. Solve problems by following these four steps: 1. Indentify and narrow the problem – “Put your problem in writing.” (Chapter 9, page 209). Write down the details of the problem, why it’s a problem, and how it is affecting you; 2. Research and develop alternatives - Brainstorm and think up alternatives to your problem – talk it out with someone else or with a brainstorming group; 3. Evaluate the alternatives - Analyze the alternatives you came up with in step 2 above and determine if they will realistically work to solve the problem – weed out the alternatives that won’t work and keep the ones that sound like possibilities; 4. Solve the problem – Take the alternatives you came up with in step 3 above and roll with them –see if indeed, one of these alternatives will be the solution to your problem. See pages 212 – 214 for an example going through each of these steps.

22.  Be sure to support your statements and arguments with facts, not opinions.  Fact: “Something that can be proven, something that can be objectively verified.” (Chapter 9, page 214). “A concept whose truth can be proved.” http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fact&o2=&o0=1&o7=& o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h=000000. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fact&o2=&o0=1&o7=& o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h=000000  Opinion: “A personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty.” http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=opinion.http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=opinion  In critical thinking, it is essential to base your thinking on facts, statements that can be verified by pointing to “credible, reliable sources.”

23.  Question 1: When you think critically, you are evaluating all of the information you have available, deciding what is true or not true, and making your own decisions about what you believe. True or False?

24.  The answer is ….. True! When engaging in critical thinking, you evaluate all available information, decide what is true or not true, and make your own decisions about what you believe based on this analysis. It’s all about employing your own analysis and looking at the issue in different perspectives to come to your own conclusions.

25. Guidelines for trying to distinguish fact from opinion include which of the following:  Listen to everything that is said in a statement  Listen for what is not said in a statement  Do not bother asking for documentation to support the statement, as they probably do not have it with them  Follow your intuition regarding those whom you trust

26.  Answer: Listen for what is not said in a statement  See Chapter 9, Cornerstone, p. 214, “Step Six: Distinguishing Fact from Opinion,” where it lists guidelines to consider when trying to differentiate fact from opinion. Listen for what is not said in a statement means that the statement does not cite reliable sources as authority; doesn’t address arguments against the statement; and perhaps leaves key points out.  Key methods to distinguish fact from opinion is to research, read, and question – seek out reliable relevant articles to get the real story and question proponents of what seems to you to be mere opinion to see if they have anything to back themselves up – play Socrates!

27. Critical thinking involves looking at an issue __________.  from different angles  emotionally  superficially  experimentally

28. Answer: Critical thinking involves looking at an issue from different angles. Critical thinking is “literally thinking about something from many angles.” (Chapter 9, p. 204)

29. 4. What is the importance of critical thinking?  Critical thinking can help you focus and gather relevant, accurate information  Critical thinking can help you analyze questions and problems  Critical thinking can help you organize your thoughts logically  All of the above

30.  Answer: All of the above  “As a student, critical thinking can help you focus on issues; gather relevant, accurate information; remember facts; organize thoughts logically; analyze questions and problems; and manage your priorities.” (Chapter 9, Cornerstone, p. 205)

31. 5. Match the term to the correct definition:  Answers: Fact Opinion Logic Potential Matches: 1. are beliefs based on values and assumptions; they may or may not be true. 2. has to do with making conclusions based on the information you have available. 3. can be proven to be true.

32. Answer: Logic: has to do with making conclusions based on information you have available Fact: can be proven to be true Opinion: are beliefs based on values and assumptions, they may or may not be true.

33.  “Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.” ~Alan Alda