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Chapter 1
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Chapter Recap
People think critically when they evaluate reasoning used in coming to conclusions. Conclusions
are beliefs; when they are expressed using true-or-false declarative sentences, they are claims (or
statements or assertions). A belief (or opinion or claim or statement, etc.) whose truth is
independent of whether people think it is true is objective.
An issue is simply a question. One uses an argument to establish a position on an issue; the
position is the conclusion of the argument. Evaluation of arguments can be skewed by emotion,
wishful thinking, self-interest, confirmation bias, and other psychological impediments to
objectivity.
What follows is a more complete list of ideas explored in this chapter.
• Claim: When a belief (judgment, opinion) is asserted in a declarative sentence, the result is
a claim, statement, or assertion.
• Objective claim vs. subjective claim: An objective claim is true or false regardless of
whether people think it is true or false. Claims that lack this property are said to be
subjective.
“Fact vs. opinion”: People sometimes refer to true objective claims as “facts,” and
use the word “opinion” to designate any claim that is subjective.
“Argument”: People sometimes use this word to refer just to an argument’s
premise.
Arguments and issues: The conclusion of an argument states a position on the issue
under consideration.
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Cognitive bias: A feature of human psychology that skews belief formation. The
ones discussed in this chapter include the following:
▪ Belief bias: Evaluating reasoning by how believable its conclusion is.
▪ Confirmation bias: A tendency to attach more weight to considerations that
support our views.
▪ Availability heuristic: Assigning a probability to an event based on how easily
or frequently it is thought of.
▪ In-group bias: A set of cognitive biases that make us view people who belong
to our group differently from people who don’t.
▪ Fundamental attribution error: Having one understanding of the behavior of
people in the in-group and another for people not in the in-group.
▪ Obedience to authority: A tendency to comply with instructions from an
authority.
▪ Overconfidence effect: A cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate what
percentage of our answers on a subject is correct.
▪ Better-than-average illusion: A self-deception cognitive bias that leads us to
overestimate our own abilities relative to those of others.
Truth: A claim is true if it is free from error.
Knowledge: If you believe something, have an argument beyond a reasonable doubt
that it is so, and have no reason to think you are mistaken, you can claim you know
it.
Answers to Text Exercises
Exercise 1-1
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5. True
11. False
12. Moral subjectivism
13. ▲c. The first order of business is to determine what the issue is.
14. True
15. False
Exercise 1-2
1. ▲This item belongs in one group.
2. This belongs in a different group than 1.
3. This belongs in a different group than 1.
10. ▲This belongs in the same group as 1 and 4.
Exercise 1-3
1. ▲Not objective
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Education.
Exercise 1-10
1. Students’ answers will vary. There is a God: The best explanation of the existence of life is
that it was created by a cosmic intelligence.
2. Students’ answers will vary. Illegal immigrants should not be eligible for health care
benefits: We don’t provide health care to citizens of other nations who live in their own
country. Why should we give them health care if they live here?
Illegal immigrants should be eligible for health care benefits: They pay sales taxes,
3. Students’ answers will vary. Handgun owners should be required to register each handgun
they own: Criminals won’t register their guns, which will make it easier for police to detain
them if they are found to possess a gun.
4. Students’ answers will vary. The phrase “under God” should be removed from the Pledge
of Allegiance: The phrase should be removed because as long as it exists only monotheists
can pledge allegiance in good conscience.
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Education.
10. ▲c. (But notice YOUR FRIEND hasn’t given a reason for thinking the governor has been
good.)
Exercise 1-13
1. ▲Whether police brutality happens often
10. ▲Whether Native Americans, as true conservationists, have something to teach readers
about their relationship to the earth (There are other points made in the passage, but they
are subsidiary to this one.)
Exercise 1-14
1. ▲MRS. is addressing both issues raised by MR.
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Education.
23. KEN is not addressing DEZRA’s issue, which is whether Ken should mow the lawn with
bare feet.
24. MAO is not addressing YAO’s issue, which is whether the fact that iMacs never get
viruses is a nice feature of the computer.
Exercise 1-15
1. ▲Pertains to moral right/wrong
2. Doesn’t pertain
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Education.
Exercise 1-16
1. ▲b. Both are arguments.
2. a. Both are explanations.
Question Posed in Box on Page 9
1. Can bears and other animals think critically?