Critical Thinking
How to think clearly under pressure: separating claims from evidence and assumptions, judging sources, recognising bias and fallacies, challenging ideas constructively, and treating an unexamined assumption as the latent hazard it usually is.
54m
Total time
4
Competency levels
12
Lessons
What you'll learn
- Separate a claim from the evidence offered for it and from the assumptions holding it up
- Test a claim by asking what would have to be true for it to hold, and check whether that is the case
- Judge the quality and relevance of a source, and distinguish correlation from causation and anecdote from evidence
- Recognise common cognitive biases and reasoning fallacies in real workplace discussions, including your own
- Challenge an idea constructively — steel-manning it first, questioning the reasoning rather than the person
- State honestly what you do not yet know, with a concrete plan to find out, and treat unchallenged assumptions as latent hazards
Curriculum
Progress through each competency level in order.
1
Awareness
- 3mWhat Critical Thinking Is — and What It Is NotKnowledge
- 3mClaims, Evidence and AssumptionsKnowledge
- 7mAwareness Check: Claims, Evidence and AssumptionsAssessment
2
Knowledge
- 3mJudging Evidence and SourcesKnowledge
- 3mCognitive Biases at WorkKnowledge
- 8mKnowledge Check: Evidence, Causation and BiasAssessment
3
Skill
- 3mFallacies and Steel-ManningKnowledge
- 3mPractice: Take Apart a Real ArgumentAssignment
- 8mSkill Check: Reasoning in PracticeAssessment
4
Mastery
- 3mConstructive Challenge, Uncertainty and Safety CultureKnowledge
- 3mCapstone: Challenge a Live Decision and Close the AssumptionsAssignment
- 7mMastery Assessment: Thinking Clearly Under PressureAssessment
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