Clear Thinking

Learning Objective of this topic
 Analyze thinking process.

 Describe how to think clearly and
logically.
 Explain creativity.
 Identify common fallacies in
everyday language
We are the product of our
thoughts?????????????
 Change your thoughts and you

change your world.
 Thought makes the whole dignity of

man, therefore endeavor to think
well, that is the only morality.
What is Thinking ?
Thinking encompasses all of the mental
activities associated with
concept- formation,
problem solving ,
intellectual functioning,
Creativity,
complex learning,
memory and
imagery .
Convergent thinking
It is,
 Logical,
 Analytical and
 predictable thinking
It is most useful when we have

information that can be handled
logically.
Divergent thinking
It is characterized by a process of
‘’moving away' in various directions,
a diverging of ideas to encompass a
variety of relevant aspects.
This kind of thinking is frequently
associated with creativity since it
often yields novel ideas and
solutions.
?
 He is a bad journalist because he is a bad
man.
 Young people are more immoral in their
behavior than older people.
 Ahmar is bound to be intelligent because he
is always reading.
 The Pakistanis are the best people in the
world.
 Having just arrived in Ohio, I saw a white
squirrel.
All Ohio Squirrels are white.
 One day Ali wakes up with a fever. A few
hours later he finds red spots on his skin.
he concludes that the fever must have
caused the red spots. His friend insists
that the spots and the fever are caused by
some microbe. Ali laughs at this and
insists that if he spends the day in a tub of
cold water his spots will go away.
 No one can deny the justice of our
cause.
 He mixes with criminals, therefore he
is a criminal himself.
 Cricketers are superior people
Tyson is a cricketer .
Tyson, therefore, is a superior
person.
Characteristics of clear
thinking
 Determinism
 Empirical evidence
 Objectivity
Some fallacies in common
thinking
 A fallacy is a technical flaw which
makes an argument unsound or
invalid.
 Arguments which contain fallacies
are described as fallacious. They
often appear valid and convincing;
sometimes only close inspection
reveals the logical flaw.
 AD HOMINEM ARGUMENTS attack on your opponent
personally instead of arguing against his or her
position.
Example: Azhar's objections to capital
punishment carry no weight since he is a
known criminal.
You claim that atheists can be moral--yet I
happen to know that you abandoned your
wife and children."
 . VICIOUS CIRCLE you assume what
you want to prove
 Example: Of course the Bible is the
word of God. Why? Because God says
so in the Bible.
 IRRELEVANCIES arguing a point by
arguing everything else.
All children should have ample
attention from their parents.
Parents who work full-time cannot give
ample attention to their children.
Therefore, mothers should not work
full-time
 COMMON BELIEF: This fallacy is
committed when we assert a
statement to be true on the evidence
that many other people allegedly
believe it. Being widely believed is not
proof or evidence of the truth.
Example: Of course Mr X was guilty
in surrey palace. Everybody knows
that.
 DUBIOUS AUTHORITY appeal to an expert who
is not expert in the area of concern.
 ATTACKING A STRAW MAN refuting real
arguments with silly example.
 Example: Those who favor gun-control
legislation just want to take all guns away from
responsible citizens and put them into the
hands of the criminals.
 ATTACKING A STRAW MAN refuting
real arguments with silly example.
Example: Those who favor gun-
control legislation just want to take
all guns away from responsible
citizens and put them into the hands
of the criminals.
 ARGUMENT FROM ANALOGY or
FALSE ANALOGY: An unsound form
of inductive argument in which an
argument is based completely or
relies heavily on analogy to prove its
point.
 Example: This must be a great car,
for, like the finest watches in the
world, it was made in Switzerland.
 PITY AND OTHER EMOTIONAL APPEALS
 I am a single parent, solely responsible for
the financial support of my children.
If you give me this traffic ticket, I will lose
my license and be unable to drive to work.
 PSEUDO QUESTIONS: questions that lead

to nowhere,
Example .How is the mind related to the
body?
 CHANGING MEANING
 PREJUDICED ARGUMENTS
 Example: Jim Bakker was an
insincere Christian. Therefore all
Christians are insincere."
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE or Ad
ignorantium. Arguing on the basis of
what is known and can be proven. If
you can't prove that something is
true then it must be false (and vice
versa).
Example: You can't prove there isn't
any ghost, so there must be one.
 FALSE DILEMMA (often called the either/or
fallacy because the argument nearly always
includes the words "either... or..."). This
fallacy assumes that we must choose
between two opposite extremes instead of
allowing for other possibilities, especially for
the possibility of choosing an alternative
between the extremes. Example: Women
need to be either brilliant or beautiful to
survive in this world.
 OVER-GENERALIZING
CONDEMNING WHOLE CLASS FOR A
CHARACTERISTIC POSSESSD BY SOME.
Example: Jim was an insincere Christian.
Therefore all Christians are insincere."
Benefits of critical thinking
 Good critical thinking skills bring numerous
benefits
 such as:
 improved attention and observation
 more focused reading
 improved ability to identify the key points in
a text or other message rather than
becoming distracted by less important
material
 improved ability to respond to the appropriate
points in a message
 knowledge of how to get your own point
across more easily
 skills of analysis that you can choose to apply
in a variety of situations
Thinking Critically
 Be skeptical
 Watch the definitions
 Beware of overgeneralization
 Redefine problems
 Use fractionation
 Consider the opposite
 Take the perspective of another person
Some factors which inhibits
our
ability to think clearly and
 Emotions logically
 Narrow-mindedness
 Cynicism
 Naïve optimism
 Skepticism
 Agnostic attitude

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Learning Objective of this topic

 Analyze thinking process.

 Change your thoughts and you

 Thought makes the whole dignity of

It is most useful when we have

 PSEUDO QUESTIONS: questions that lead

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