Monday, March 17, 2008
TFY Chapter 7 Summary
1. Evaluations make judgments about worth on the basis of standards that may be conscious or unconscious.
2. Evaluations can help us react quickly to situations where our survival is at stake. But this same tendency to evaluate first instead of last may be problematical when we don't reexamine our evidence to make sure our evaluation is warranted.
3. Evaluations are not facts. Factual reports keep distinction between facts and evaluations clear.
4. Premature evaluations are hasty evaluations that contain unexamined or faulty support.
5. Feelings and expectations affect both our perceptions and evaluations.
6. All of us need to learn how to make fair and sound evaluations since the affect our lives constantly. Experts are those who have a reputation for offering skilled and reliable evaluations.
7. Connotative words convey evaluations that can be used to sway our opinions. When we think critically, we recognize how those connotations affect our feelings so that we can choose or not choose to accept the opinions they contain.
8. Evaluations are used in advertising and journalism to persuade us, sometimes hypnotically, to make associations with products and purchase them.
9. Critical thinking requires that we stay alert to manipulative advertising techniques that are most effective when can be enticed to enter into a trance state.
10. Propaganda employs many sophisticated manipulative techniques of persuasion. One of these is the use of hidden evaluations. A critical thinker knows how to recognize and detach from the influence of propaganda.
2. Evaluations can help us react quickly to situations where our survival is at stake. But this same tendency to evaluate first instead of last may be problematical when we don't reexamine our evidence to make sure our evaluation is warranted.
3. Evaluations are not facts. Factual reports keep distinction between facts and evaluations clear.
4. Premature evaluations are hasty evaluations that contain unexamined or faulty support.
5. Feelings and expectations affect both our perceptions and evaluations.
6. All of us need to learn how to make fair and sound evaluations since the affect our lives constantly. Experts are those who have a reputation for offering skilled and reliable evaluations.
7. Connotative words convey evaluations that can be used to sway our opinions. When we think critically, we recognize how those connotations affect our feelings so that we can choose or not choose to accept the opinions they contain.
8. Evaluations are used in advertising and journalism to persuade us, sometimes hypnotically, to make associations with products and purchase them.
9. Critical thinking requires that we stay alert to manipulative advertising techniques that are most effective when can be enticed to enter into a trance state.
10. Propaganda employs many sophisticated manipulative techniques of persuasion. One of these is the use of hidden evaluations. A critical thinker knows how to recognize and detach from the influence of propaganda.
TFY Chapter 6 Summary
1. Although the word opinion is a common one, it is just as commonly misunderstood, since the same word covers so many varieties of thoughts, ranging from expert judgments to expressions of sentiment or personal taste.
2. Opinions can be well substantiated or not. They can be based either on reasons or solely on whim, feelings, emotions, or prejudice.
3. Critical thinking requires that we recognize the difference between responsible and irresponsible opinion and that we distinguish statements based on evidence from statements based on solely on feelings.
4. People enjoy expressing and reading opinions.
5. Expert opinion is based on an understanding of evidence and risks in a situation and is important and highly valued.
6. Public opinion polls can be used to determine public sentiment on social and political issues as well as to manipulate public sentiment. This occurs when we forget that sentiment is not that same as informed opinion and that opinion polls are not subject to the same safeguards as public elections.
7. Opinions should not be confused with facts.
8. Arguments consist of supported opinions; the intent of an argument is to persuade.
9. In an essay, a statement of an opinion can be the thesis or its principle claim.
2. Opinions can be well substantiated or not. They can be based either on reasons or solely on whim, feelings, emotions, or prejudice.
3. Critical thinking requires that we recognize the difference between responsible and irresponsible opinion and that we distinguish statements based on evidence from statements based on solely on feelings.
4. People enjoy expressing and reading opinions.
5. Expert opinion is based on an understanding of evidence and risks in a situation and is important and highly valued.
6. Public opinion polls can be used to determine public sentiment on social and political issues as well as to manipulate public sentiment. This occurs when we forget that sentiment is not that same as informed opinion and that opinion polls are not subject to the same safeguards as public elections.
7. Opinions should not be confused with facts.
8. Arguments consist of supported opinions; the intent of an argument is to persuade.
9. In an essay, a statement of an opinion can be the thesis or its principle claim.
TFY Chapter 5 Summary
1. An assumption is something we take for granted, something we accept prematurely as beging true, something we do not check out carefully. Often we do, not recognize that we have made an assumption until it causes a problem for us.
2. Assumptions can be conscious or unconscious, warranted or unwarranted. Unconscious and unwarranted assumptions can lead to faulty reasoning, whereas conscious and warranted assumptions can be useful tools for problem solving. we need to recognize the difference.
3. Hidden assumptions are unconscious assumptions that generally influence a line of reasoning. One form of hidden assumptions is stereotypes, where we try to fit new experiences into old or prejudiced categories. Another type is value assumptions, or basic unexamined beliefs that unconsciously influence our thinking.
4. Arguments are the use of reasoning to defend an idea or to persuade someone else to believe in the idea. Good arguments do not rest upon unexamined assumptions.
5. We perceive incongruities when we observe situations that do not meet our expectations or assumptions. this can cause a feeling of disequilibrium. We restore our equilibrium when we reach a new understanding though the process of reexamining our assumptions. This is a familiar and continuous process that results in growth and learning.
6. Someone who brings a fresh perspective to a problem that has stumped others is often able to find a solution because he or she dose not buy the assumptions that restrain others. As a conscious tool, we can look for assumptions when we are with confronted with a problem to solve.
2. Assumptions can be conscious or unconscious, warranted or unwarranted. Unconscious and unwarranted assumptions can lead to faulty reasoning, whereas conscious and warranted assumptions can be useful tools for problem solving. we need to recognize the difference.
3. Hidden assumptions are unconscious assumptions that generally influence a line of reasoning. One form of hidden assumptions is stereotypes, where we try to fit new experiences into old or prejudiced categories. Another type is value assumptions, or basic unexamined beliefs that unconsciously influence our thinking.
4. Arguments are the use of reasoning to defend an idea or to persuade someone else to believe in the idea. Good arguments do not rest upon unexamined assumptions.
5. We perceive incongruities when we observe situations that do not meet our expectations or assumptions. this can cause a feeling of disequilibrium. We restore our equilibrium when we reach a new understanding though the process of reexamining our assumptions. This is a familiar and continuous process that results in growth and learning.
6. Someone who brings a fresh perspective to a problem that has stumped others is often able to find a solution because he or she dose not buy the assumptions that restrain others. As a conscious tool, we can look for assumptions when we are with confronted with a problem to solve.
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