ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.

  

Discuss the most important concepts learned from ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. Please choose 3 concepts you deems most important. ATTACH IS THE READING MATERIAL. 1000 WORDS OR MORE.

CHAPTER

The Benefit and Manner of
Asking the Right Questions

THE NOISY, CONFUSED WORLD WE LIVE IN

This book encourages you to learn something we think can change your life
for the better. That something is “critical thinking.” But there is an imaginary
world that some of us inhabit where there is no need at all for critical think-
ing. In this imaginary world several conditions prevail:

1. We are each allowed the independence to make decisions about reli-
gion, politics, and what we will and will not buy or believe. Advertisers,
marketers, public relations specialists, campaign managers, and advo-
cates of various worldviews will provide us only the information that we
need to make decisions that result in building a life that we choose.

2. Anyone trying to persuade us of anything will always explain the disad-
vantages of what he or she wants us to do.

3. Any time we are confused about one of life’s important questions, we
can quickly find a dependable expert, authority, or wise person. Fur-
thermore, these voices of knowledge will all agree with one another. In
short, we need not be anxious about what to do or believe because the
wise ones will have the answer. Our task is simply to locate and listen to
them.

4. Our minds are calm, engaged, reflective, and curious whenever faced
with an important choice.

We hope you realize that the world we actually live in is nothing like the
Never-Never Land, we just described.

1

2 Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions

In the real world, we are assaulted on all sides by others who insist that
we must do what they tell us we should do. They know best. They know
what we should wear, eat, buy, and believe. They claim to possess a truth
that we must accept. They say they want to help us. They will not leave us
alone to form our own understanding of who we should become.

As an illustration, in a 5-minute Internet search we found the following
advice with respect to the relatively simple question: Should we use more tea?
These were all found on web sites urging you to buy more tea.

• Use green tea to ease itching and swelling.
• Use strong tea as a disinfectant on cuts and bruises.
• Use strong tea to treat athlete’s foot. Bathe the foot twice a day for ten

minutes for up to several weeks.
• Press rehydrated tealeaves on teeth to reduce the pain of toothache.
• Chewing rehydrated tealeaves cleanses the breath.
• Soak a towel in warm tea, and place the towel on tired eyes to refresh

them.
• Wash the face with warm tea to reduce skin rashes and pimples.
• Rinse washed hair with strong tea for shine and softness.

The people making these claims want us to change our behavior. Planning to
buy more tea?

To make matters worse, those trying to persuade us do not play fair as
they try to shape us. They tell us half-truths at best. The socialist does not
explain the dangers of a large government. The conservative does not explain
to us the severe inequality in our country that makes it very difficult for many
of us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. The people selling us the latest
jeans do not explain to us that the low prices they claim to charge are pos-
sible only because they exploit workers in Asia. The drug companies who tell
us we need the yellow or blue pill to solve our problems do not explain to
us that much of the research that supports the effectiveness of the drugs was
paid for by the very companies selling you the drugs. We think you get the
picture.

But the scenario we are sketching here would not be much of a prob-
lem if we could depend on the wise people, the experts, to have the answers
we need. If they could give us the right answers we could resist the noisy
persuaders. But when we need those who claim to have the answers, they are
not there for us. They are often wrong, and they disagree among themselves.
The next section emphasizes the significance of this reality for you and how
you think.

Chapter 2 will focus on ways in which our brains often fail us as we try
to handle our messy, confusing world. Sometimes our brains perform amaz-
ing imaginative and complex tasks. But the human brain is frequently guided
by what Daniel Kahneman calls “fast thinking” or “System 1 thinking.” Our

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 3

brains often rely on patterns of thinking that get us into trouble. Fast thinking
is automatic, immediate and typically controlled by our emotions. Jonathan
Haidt has described our reliance on emotion as a raging elephant tearing
through lhe countryside with our rational tendencies taking the form of a tiny
rider trying desperately to control the elephant’s passionate rampage.

EXPERTS CANNOT RESCUE US, DESPITE WHAT THEY SAY

We already made the point that if you expect to lean on experts as the tool
with which to wade through the multitude of people wishing to own your
mind, you are in for a big disappointment. They often sound as if they know
far more than they do. They probably understand at some level that you are
much more likely to listen to them when they sound certain about what they
claim to be true. So, they give you what you want to hear.

But we want to drive this point home to you by 3 examples from David
Freedman’s important 2010 book, Wrong: Wby Bcperts Keep Failing Us

1. Should you stay out of the sun? The U.S. Center for Disease Control
and Prevention says that exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays may be
the most important factor influencing the development of skin cancer.
In short, stay out of the sun. But wait. The World Health Organization
says exposure to ultraviolet light is a minor contributor to disease in the
world. Then to confuse us all the more they add that too little exposure
to the sun may cause more disease in the world than does exposure to
the sun.

2. Does it make sense to buy a pet as a means of having better health? The
American Heart Association says that many studies have demonstrated
the positive effect of pet ownership on the owner’s health. However,
a reliable study in Finland found that pet ownership is linked to poor
health.

3. Do cell phones emit harmful radiation? The Director of the Interna-
tional Epidemiology Institute says there is no basis for believing that cell
phones produce harmful emissions. But an expert linked to a South Car-
olina Hospital has a quite different response to this question. He claims
there is sufficient evidence to justify a health advisory warning about the
link between cell phones and cancer.

Respected experts disagree about how to create a prosperous middle class,
whether there will be future jobs available for college students who major
in particular areas of study, whether the knee you injured requires surgery,
whether Obama is a strong leader, how to lose weight and keep it off, and
when an immigrant should be granted citizenship. Experts provide us more or
less reasonable assertions. They give us the materials for a thoughtful decision.
But we are the craftsperson who must measure and construct those assertions
into a decision that is ours.

4 Chapter l • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions

We nee

THE NECESSITY OF REL YING ON OUR MIND

Once we have a clear grasp of where we live in the sense of the environment
in which we make decisions, we come face to face with a heavy responsibility:
WE MUST ASSERT RATIONAL CONTROL OF OUR BELIEFS AND CONCLU-
SIONS. THE ALTERNATIVE IS BEING THE MENTAL SLAVE OF WHOEVER
IMPRESSES OUR SYSTEM 1 BRAIN.

Critical Thinking teaches you skills and attitudes that make you proud
to have rationally discovered answers that make sense to you. Critical think-
ing encourages you to listen to and learn from others, while at the same time
weighing the quality of what others say. In this regard, you are learning that
we must depend on others, but only selectively. Critical thinking thereby lib-
erates you, empowering you to be the supervisor of who you are becoming.

CRITICAL THINKING TO THE RESCUE

Listening and reading critically-that is, reacting with systematic evaluation to
what you have heard and read-requires a set of skills and attitudes. These
skills and attitudes are built around a series of related critical questions. While
we will learn them one by one, our goal is to be able to use them as a unit
to identify the best decision available. Ideally, asking these questions will
become part of who you are, not just something you studied in a book.

Critical thinking, as we will use the term, refers to the following:

1. awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions;
2. ability to ask and answer these critical questions in an appropriate

manner; and
3. desire to actively use the critical questions.

The goal of this book is to encourage you in all three of these dimensions.
Questions require the person being asked the question to do something

in response. By our questions, we are saying to the person: “

I

am curious”;
“I want to know more”; “help me.” This request shows respect for the other
person. Critical questions exist to inform and provide direction for all who
hear them. In that respect, critical thinking begins with the desire to improve
what we think. The critical questions are also useful in improving your own
writing and speaking because they will assist you when you:

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 5

I. react critically to an essay or to evidence presented in a textbook, in a
periodical, or on a Web site;

2. judge the quality of a lecture or a speech;

Three Dimensions of Critical Thinking

3. form an argument;

Desire to actively
use the cnt1cal

questions

4. write an essay based on a reading assignment; or
5 . participate in class.

A. Attention: Critical thinking consists of an awareness of a set of
interrelated critical questions, plus the ability and willingness to
ask and answer them at appropriate times.

THE SPONGE AND PANNING FOR GOLD:
ALTERNATIVE THINKING STYLES

One common approach to thinking is similar to the way in which a sponge
reacts to water: by absorbing. This popular approach has some clear
advantages.

First, the more information you absorb about the world, the more capa-
ble you are of understanding its complexities. Knowledge you have acquired
provides a foundation for more complicated thinking later.

6 Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner o f Asking the Right Questions

A second advantage of the sponge approach is that it is relatively pas-
sive. Rather than requiring strenuous mental effort, it tends to be rather quick
and easy, especially when the material is presented in a clear and interest-
ing fashion. Though absorbing information provides a productive start toward
becoming a thoughtful person, the sponge approach also has a serious and
devastating disadvantage: It provides no method for deciding which informa-
tion and opinions to believe and which to reject. If a reader relied on the
sponge approach all the time, he would believe whatever he read last.

We think you would rather choose for yourself what to absorb and what to
ignore. To make this choice, you must read with a special attitude-a question-
asking attitude. Such a thinking style requires active participation. The writer is
trying to speak to you, and you should try to talk back to him, even though he
is not physically present.

We call this interactive approach the panning-for-gold style of think-
ing. The process of panning for gold provides a model for active readers
and listeners as they try to determine the worth of what they read and hear.
Distinguishing the gold from the gravel in a conversation requires you to ask
frequent questions and to reflect on the answers.

The sponge approach emphasizes knowledge acquisition; the panning-
for-gold approach stresses active interaction with knowledge as it is being
acquired. Thus, the two approaches complement each other. To pan for intel-
lectual gold, there must be something in your pan to evaluate. In addition, to
evaluate arguments, we must possess knowledge, that is, dependable opinions.

Let us examine more closely how the two approaches lead to different
behavior. What does the individual who takes the sponge approach do when
he reads material? He reads sentences carefully, trying to remember as much
as he can. He may underline or highlight key words and sentences. He may·
take notes summarizing the major topics and major points. He checks his
underlining or notes to be sure that he is not forgetting anything important.
His mission is to find and understand what the author has to say. He memo-
rizes the reasoning, but doesn’t evaluate it.

What does the reader who takes the panning-for-gold approach do? Like
the person using the sponge approach, she approaches her reading with the
hope that she will acquire new knowledge. There the similarity ends. The
panning-for-gold approach requires that the reader ask herself a number of
questions designed to uncover the best available decisions or beliefs.

The reader who uses the panning-for-gold approach frequently ques-
tions why the author makes various claims. She writes notes to herself in the
margins indicating problems with the reasoning. She continually interacts with
the material. Her intent is to critically evaluate the material and formulate per-
sonal conclusions based on the evaluation.

The most important characteristic of the panning-for-gold approach is
interactive involvement-a dialogue between the writer and the reader, or the
speaker and the listener. As a critical thinker, you are willing to agree with
others, but first you need some convincing answers to your questions.

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 7

someone me to eve someth ng?

Did eval ate

Mental Checklist for Panning for Gold

The inadequacies in what someone says will not always leap out at you.
You must be an active reader and listener. You can do this by asking ques-
tions. The best search strategy is a critical-questioning strategy. A powerful
advantage of these questions is that they permit you to ask probing questions
even when you know very little about the topic being discussed. For exam-
ple, you do not need to be an expert on child care to ask critical questions
about the adequacy of day-care centers.

WEAK-SENSE AND STRONG-SENSE CRITICAL THINKING

Previous sections mentioned that you already have opinions about many per-
sonal and social issues. You are willing right now to take a position on such
questions as: Should prostitution be legalized? Is alcoholism a disease or will-
ful misconduct? Was George W. Bush a successful president? You bring these
initial opinions to what you hear and read.

8 Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions

Critical thinking can be used to either (1) defend or (2) evaluate and
revise your initial beliefs. Professor Richard Paul’s distinction between weak-
sense and strong-sense critical thinking helps us appreciate these two antago-
nistic uses of critical thinking.

A Attention: Weak-sense critical thinking is the use of critical think-
ing to defend your current beliefs. Strong-sense critical thinking is
the use of the same skills to evaluate all claims and beliefs, especially
your own.

If you approach critical thinking as a method for defending your present
beliefs, you are engaged in weak-sense critical thinking. Why is it weak7 To
use critical-thinking skills in this manner is to be unconcerned with moving
toward truth or virtue. The purpose of weak-sense critical thinking is to resist
and annihilate opinions and reasoning different from yours. To see domina-
tion and victory over those who disagree with you as the objective of critical
thinking is to ruin the potentially humane and progressive aspects of critical
thinking.

In contrast, strong-sense critical thinking requires us to apply the critical
questions to all claims, including our own. By forcing ourselves to look criti-
cally at our initial beliefs, we help protect ourselves against self-deception and
conformity. It is easy to just stick with current beliefs, particularly when many
people share them. But when we take this easy road, we run the strong risk
of making mistakes we could otherwise avoid.

Strong-sense critical thinking does not necessarily force us to give up
our initial beliefs. It can provide a basis for strengthening them because criti-
cal examination of those beliefs will sometimes reinforce our original com-
mitment to them. Another way of thinking about this distinction is to contrast
open- and closed-mindedness. When my mind is open, it welcomes criticism
of my own beliefs. But when my mind is closed, the beliefs I have are going
to be the ones I keep.

To feel proud of a particular opinion, it should be one we have selected-
selected from alternative opinions that we have understood and evaluated.

The Importance of Pradice

Our goal is to make your learning as simple as possible. However, the habit
of critical thinking will initially take a lot of practice.

The practice exercises and sample responses at the end of each chap-
ter, except this introductory chapter, are an important part of this text. Our
answers are not necessarily the only correct ones, but they do provide
illustrations of how to apply the definitions and question-asking skills. We
intentionally failed to provide sample answers for the third passage at the
end of each chapter. Our objective is to give you the opportunity to strug-
gle with the answer using your knowledge of the chapter we have just

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 9

studied. For additional practice opportunities and for online help, go to
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/browne, where we have placed many
helpful hints and practice materials.

CRITICAL THINKING AND OTHER PEOPLE

Values and Other People

Think of other people as your most valuable resource, the basis for the facts,
opinions, and conclusions that you will eventually have. In an important and
ongoing manner, other people are part of your extended family, those who
nurture your conclusions. The theme here is connectedness.

How these interactions work is shaped by your values and the values
you perceive in those with whom you interact. Before you can discover the
importance of values in shaping conclusions, you must have some under-
standing of what a value is. Values, as we will use the term, are ideas that
someone thinks are worthwhile. You will find that it is the importance one
assigns to abstract ideas that has the major influence on one’s choices and
behavior.

Usually objects, experiences, and actions are desired because of some
idea we value. For example, we may choose to do things that provide us with
contacts with important people. We value “important people” (concrete idea)
because we value “status” (abstract idea). When we use the word value in this
chapter, we will be referring to an (abstract) idea representing what someone
thinks is important and good .

.A Attention: Values are unstated ideas that people see as worthwhile.
‘Ibey provide standards of conduct by which we measure the qual-
ity of human behavior.

To better familiarize yourself with values, write down some of your own
values. Try to avoid writing down the names of people, tangible objects, or
actions. Pizza and tennis may be important to you, but it is the importance
you assign to abstract ideas that most influences your choices and behav-
ior concerning controversial public issues. Your willingness to argue for or
against assisted suicide, for instance, is strongly related to the importance you
assign to the sanctity of human life-an abstract idea. As you create your list
of values, focus on those that are so significant that they affect your opinions
and behavior in many ways.

Do you have problems making your list? We can provide some help.
Values are standards of conduct that we endorse and expect people to meet.
When we expect our political representatives to “tell the truth,” we are indi-
cating to them and to ourselves that honesty is one of our most cherished
values. Ask yourself how you expect your friends to be. What standards of

10 Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions

conduct would you want your children to develop? Answers to these ques-
tions should help you enlarge your understanding of values.

Let’s remind ourselves how knowledge about values relates to the social
nature of critic::il thinking. While we must require ourselves to listen carefully
to those who have different value priorities than our own, the most obvious
social link established by values is similarity. Those of us who see individual
responsibility as an extremely important value tend to be comfortable with
and to seek out those who similarly believe that improved personal choices
are the solution to most human problems. Hence, many of our most valuable
social interactions or learning experiences start with communications with
those who have similar value priorities. Our huge challenge in this regard
is to make ourselves work hard to understand the reasoning of those whose
value priorities differ from ours.

While adventure, ambition, autonomy, comfort, excellence, justice, ratio-
nality, tolerance, and spontaneity may be important values to us, it is quite
likely that other reasonable people will have important values that conflict
with many of these. Our normal tendency to listen to only those with simi-
lar value priorities needs our active resistance. We have to fight against the
tendency.

Primary Values of a Critical Thinker

This book is dedicated to help you become a critical thinker. As a critical
thinker, you will be pursuing better conclusions, better beliefs, and better deci-
sions. Certain values advance your effort to do so; others do not. By knowing
and appreciating the primary values of a critical thinker, you have some men-
tal muscle that you can use to remind yourself of the necessity of your paying
close attention to those who do not share your value priorities. Let’s examine
these primary values.

1. Autonomy. At first this value may seem as if it has little to do with
encouraging people to pay attention to those with different perspec-
tives. How does a drive to form one’s own conclusions encourage us in
any fashion to seek and listen to views that are not our own? Aha! And
what raw material should you use in pursuing this autonomy? Surely, we
all want to pick and choose from the widest possible array of possibili-
ties; otherwise, we may miss the one decision or option that we would
have chosen if only we had paid attention to those who did not share
our value priorities. For example, Democrats make a huge mistake if
they listen only to other Democrats.

2. Curiosity. To take advantage of the panning-for-gold method of living
your life, you need to listen and read, really listen and read. Other peo-
ple have the power to move you forward, to liberate you from your cur-
rent condition of partial knowledge. To be a critical thinker requires you
to then ask questions about what you have encountered. Part of what
you gain from other people is their insights and understanding, when

”

I

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 11 !

i

what they have to offer meets the standards of good reasoning
that you will learn in Asking the Right Questions.

3. Humility. Recognizing that even the smartest person in the world makes
many mistakes each week provides the ideal platform for engaging
actively with other people. Certainly some of us have insights that others
do not have, but each of us is very limited in what we can do, and at
honest moments, we echo Socrates when he said that he knew that
he did not know. Once we accept this reality, we can better recognize
that our experiences with other people can fill in at least a few of the
gaps in our present understanding. Also, a sense of humility keeps us
from avoiding a very common obstacle to critical thinking, the belief
that “those who disagree with me are biased, but I am not.”

4. Respect for good reasoning wherever you find it. While we want to
respect and listen to other voices, all conclusions or opinions are not
equally worthwhile. The critical questions you will learn as you study
this book will provide a framework to assist you in picking and choos-
ing from among all the people trying to influence you. When you find
strong reasoning, regardless of the race, age, political party, wealth, or
citizenship of the speaker or writer, rely on it until a better set of reason-
ing comes along.

By all means, act with confidence based on your beliefs, but hold your
conclusions with only that degree of firmness that permits you to still wonder
to yourself, “Might I be wrong?”

They are your opinions, and you quite understandably feel protective
of them. Listen as political satirist Stephen Colbert mocks this attitude of ours:
‘Tm not a fan of facts . You see, the facts can change, but my opinion will
never change, no matter what the facts are.”

Anyone determined to keep the conclusions he already has may well
use reasons to justify his opinion. However, this kind of reasoning is called
“managed reasoning,” meaning that the reasoning is being selected so as to
reach a particular conclusion.

KEEPING THE CONVERSATION GOING

Because critical thinking is a social activity, we need to consider how other
people are likely to react to us when we ask them questions about their
beliefs and conclusions. As long as we are interacting with others who share
the primary values of critical thinking, our questions will be received as evi-
dence that we are a partner in the search for better answers to the questions
we share. But that terrific opportunity to grow together is not going to be the
only kind of social interaction you will have.

Many people are not eager to have their thinking questioned; often,
they experience questioning as annoying and unfriendly. Some may wonder,
“Why is she asking me all these challenging questions? Why does she not just
agree with me?” Don’t be surprised if someone reacts to your quest to learn

I
I

12 Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions

Common Understanding of an Argument© Shutterstock

more by asking you why you are being so mean. Many people are unaccus-
tomed to situations where someone is so excited to know more about why a
particular viewpoint is held.

For purposes of critical thinking, an argument is altogether something
else. Because we see argument as the mechanism whereby we fertilize and
prune our current conclusions, we will use the concept in a very different
manner. An argument is a combination of two forms of statements: a conclu-
sion and the reasons allegedly supporting it. The partnership between reasons
and conclusion establishes a person’s argument. It is something we provide
because we care about how people live their lives and what they believe. Our
continual improvement depends on someone’s caring enough about us to
offer us arguments and to evaluate the ones we make. Only then will we be
able to develop as thoughtful people.

Above all else, when you use your critical-thinking skills, make it clear
to other people that you want to learn. Furthermore, give them assurances
that you wish them well and that any disagreement you have with them, as
serious and important as that disagreement might be, need not result in a
verbal bloodbath. What follows are a few verbal strategies that you can use to
keep the conversation going:

1. Try to clarify your understanding of what the other person intends by
asking, “Did I hear you say?”

2. Ask the other person whether there is any evidence that would cause
him to change his mind.

Chapter 1 • The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions 13

3. Suggest a time-out in which each of you will try to find the very best
evidence for the conclusion you hold.

4. Ask why the person thinks the evidence on which you are relying is so
weak.

S. Try to come together. If you take that person’s best reasons and put
them together with your best reasons, is there some conclusion that
both of you could embrace?

6. Search for common values or other shared conclusions to serve as a
basis for determining where the disagreement first appeared in your
conversation.

7. Try to present a model of caring and calm curiosity; as soon as the ver-
bal heat turns up, try to remind yourselves that you are learners, not
warriors.

8. Make certain that your face and body suggest humility, rather than the
demeanor of a know-it-all.

Creating a Friendly Environment for Communication

As a writer or speaker, you are faced with an important choice. You have
to decide the type of environment you’ll create for your audience. Will you
choose one that is hostile to people who disagree with your conclusions? In
the current polarized climate, the temptation is great. Just look at the tactics
employed during the American election season-the tactics the Daily Show’s
Jon Stewart mocked when he said, “I disagree with you, but I am pretty sure
you’re not Hitler.”

In the spirit of this Jon Stewart quote, you could choose to create an
environment in which reasonable people can productively and respectfully
disagree-an environment that welcomes discussion and question-asking. Of
course we prefer this approach, but let’s be honest: There are some com-
pelling reasons to write in a tone that excludes, even shoots down, critical
thinkers.

First, it’s easier to shoot down a hard question than to consider and
respond to it. Plus, you’ll surely sound authoritative, daring your audience
to challenge your expert judgment. Not to mention that this writing style can
even be fun. Have you ever read and enjoyed a vicious review of a movie,
book, album, or video game?

Take a look at the tone and word choice in this review of the 2009 box
office success Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Popular film critic Roger
Ebert suggested:

If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a
male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and
pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.

Just t1y to convince him that he should calm down and reconsider.