Critical thinking skills will often determine your success in school, work, and life. The prevalence of misinformation and information overload makes it so important to develop a mindset that focuses on critical thinking.
Let’s say you’re walking down the sidewalk near a busy street and you see someone who is texting and not paying attention to where they’re going. There is some space between the two of you, but certainly not so much that you wouldn’t be able to stop them from walking into traffic. As you see … Read more
It starts as children when we try to please and impress our parents. That need to please follows us to school as we try to impress our teachers and coaches–and ultimately to our adult lives as we go out of our way to please our bosses. And this isn’t only true for people who tend … Read more
If you think about what the “burden of proof” means for a minute (or you look it up), it makes perfect sense. This is something that you probably face in one form or another every day. While the concept of “the burden of proof” is commonly used in law, it also plays a critical role … Read more
“Because that’s how we’ve always done it.” When I was working in my first position in child welfare at an agency that had been around for decades, this is the response I frequently received when questioning why certain processes were in place. As a recent graduate from a master’s program in social work, I was … Read more
Do you remember when “Because my mom said so” was a valid argument? Back in the days when our parents were the ultimate authority on all topics and if a grownup said it was true, there were no further questions. But, with age and experience, this argument lost its power as we recognized that our … Read more
What would happen if you dropped a mirror and it broke? Well, aside from having to buy a new mirror, you would probably expect seven years of bad luck to be ahead of you. But, if you think back to our article on the Post Hoc Logical Fallacies, you know this popular belief stems from … Read more
One common thing I hear people say (and I tend to believe myself) is, “No news is good news.” I was recently proven wrong by this saying when I spoke with a good friend of mine for the first time in several weeks. It’s not that we had lost touch–we are just both so busy … Read more
One fun way to create a fun conversation and/or get to know someone better is to ask logic questions. By testing someone’s mind you can get to know them a little better in an interesting way. So in this article, we have 21 challenging logic questions that can be peppered into your exchanges with the … Read more
When you’re trying to make an argument for (or against) something, you need to construct a claim to get your listeners to believe what you’re saying. And there are few better ways to do this than to say something that your listeners already believe to be true. Like other cognitive biases, we often rely on … Read more
When I was 28, I got laid off from my favorite full-time job. I left work that day in tears, thinking my professional life was over. I felt betrayed by my colleagues, with whom I had become extremely close. My boss, a big sister of sorts, all of a sudden felt like a stranger. I … Read more