Critical thinking

This topic shows you how to think critically, find hidden contexts and read between the lines

Exercise

Find the terms matching the explanations.

is information, which we can verify and back up by evidence. that Earth is spheric and it revolves around the Sun, is verified by observations and physics calculations, which prove the verity of it.
Correct answer: Fact; Fact
But throughouthistory we can find examples showing that mankind considers to be also unverified information often against physics and direct observation, just because it fits to their philosophical formula. However, approach like this is in arduous antagonism with critical thinking.
Correct answer: Fact
As we can also consider information, which is not based on the evidence, but society accorded on that. For example, it is a that one centimeter consists of 10 milimetres and one hour consists of 60 minutes, or that Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia.
Correct answer: Fact; Fact
is a statement that can be either true or not. is what we personally consider to be likely. If, for example, all your colleagues in your office are listening to Vivaldi, you could say that all the personnel in your company listen to him. However, until you did not ask each person, and do not verify your , you cannot take it as a fact. You cannot claim that it is true.
Correct answer: Assumption; Assumption; Assumption
is similar to assumption. It is scientifically based, but not yet definitely proven assumption. We can meet with in academia very often. If, for example, a student of a university writes his thesis, s/he should at first state his , her/his explanation of certain phenomenon, and afterwards s/he should either prove or disprove it.
Correct answer: Hypothesis; Hypothesis; Hypothesis
is a statement, which we consider to be true. It depends on our point of view, taste or personal experience. Each person looks at world in different way, therefore there exist various on the same thing. If you, for instance, say that yellow colour is beautiful, it is your , your pal could like totally different colours.
Correct answer: Opinion; Opinion; Opinion
can have various forms:
personal preferences - about what each of us prefer, what we like
judgement - about what we think is right/not right, good/bad
advice - what should/should not others do (e.g. “you should not meet with her”, “you need to buy new computer”)
generalisation – persuasion about general truth, which is not based on any evidence or reason and is very often based on prejudices or stereotypes (“All people in Africa are hungry”, “Roma people do not want to work”)
Correct answer: Opinion
does not have to express personal taste only, often it reflects rooted prejudices. The goal of critical thinking is to confute the prejudices.
Correct answer: Opinion
is a sentence or series of sentences, assertions or assumptions. The aim of is to explain, persuade or reason something. It contains premises and one conclusion, while conclusion is based on these premises. Correct is based on logics, it should be based on facts and it should lead to correct judgement.
Correct answer: Argument; Argument; Argument
can justify certain believe, but we should not misjudge it with simple statement.
Correct answer: Argument
offers objective information, but it does not try to persuade. Sentence “Most of the countries in Africa are less developed than in Europe” is . If it was argument, it would sound like this “Most of the countries in Africa is less developed than in Europe also because EU imposed high custom duties on their products. It causes that several African products are more expensive than the European.”
Correct answer: Statement; Statement
is a statement which reasons the of argument. is a statement, which is based on , which reason it logically. If we would like to get right , we should work with right and verified .
Correct answer: Premises; Conclusion; Conclusion; Premises; Conclusion; Premises

In each discussion it is important to realise whether we present facts, assumptions or opinions only as well as to know how arguments are formed and of what they consist of.