Critical Thinking
Lesson 7
Lesson 7 Objectives
• Evaluate the sources and information related to a
belief in terms of
• Reliability
• Purposes and interests
• Reputation
• Value
• Differentiate knowing from believing
• Identify ways of presenting beliefs
Ways of Forming Beliefs
Throughout our lives, we form
beliefs about the world around us to
explain why things happen as they
do, to predict how things will
happen, and to govern the choices
we make.
What exactly are beliefs? Beliefs
represent an interpretation,
evaluation, conclusion, or
prediction that a person believes to
be true.
Ways of Forming Beliefs
Below are examples of each type of belief.
Interpretation: The statement “I believe that the U. S. Constitution’s
guarantee of ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms’ does not prohibit all
governmental regulation of firearms” represents an interpretation of the Second
Amendment.
Evaluation: The statement “I believe that watching daytime talk shows is
unhealthy because they focus almost exclusively on the seamy side of human
life” expresses an evaluation of daytime talk shows.
Conclusion: The statement “I believe that one of the main reasons two out of
three people in the world go to bed hungry each night is that industrially
advanced nations have not done a satisfactory job of sharing their resources”
expresses a conclusion about the problem of world hunger.
Prediction: The statement “I believe that if drastic environmental measures are
not undertaken to slow global warming, the polar icecaps will melt and the earth
will be flooded” is a prediction about events that will occur in the future.
Ways of Forming Beliefs
Beliefs are not static. We continually form and reform our beliefs
throughout much of our lives. This process often follows this
sequence:
1. We form beliefs in order to explain what is taking place.
2. We test these beliefs by acting on the basis of them.
3. We revise these beliefs if our actions do not achieve our
goals.
4. We retest these revised beliefs by again using them as a
basis for action.
Ways of Forming Beliefs
As we actively participate in this ongoing process of forming and
re-forming beliefs, we are using our critical thinking abilities to
identify and critically examine our beliefs by, in effect, asking
the following questions:
• How effectively do these beliefs explain what is taking
place?
• To what extent are the beliefs consistent with other
beliefs about the world?
• How effectively do the beliefs help us to predict what will
happen in the future?
• To what extent are these beliefs supported by sound
reasons and compelling evidence derived from reliable
sources?
Ways of Forming Beliefs:
Direct and Indirect Experiences
Earlier in the course, we
identified four main sources
for our beliefs:
1. People of authority
2. Recorded references
3. Observed evidence
4. Personal experience
These sources fall into two categories: indirect experience
(1 and 2) and personal experience (3 and 4).
Ways of Forming Beliefs:
Direct and Indirect Experiences
Beliefs Based on Indirect Experience
We depend on the experience of others to provide us with beliefs
and to serve as foundations for our beliefs.
For example, does Antarctica exist? How do we know? Have we
ever been there and seen it with our own eyes? Probably not;
nevertheless, we believe in the existence of Antarctica.
Of all of our beliefs, few are actually based on our direct
personal experience.
Ways of Forming Beliefs:
Direct and Indirect Experiences
Beliefs Based on Personal Experience
We also form beliefs based on evidence we observe and on our
own personal experience.
However, how we interpret and understand direct experience —
what conclusions we draw from what we perceive — often
depends on what we already believe.
In offering evidence to support our beliefs, we often choose
those perceptions and experiences that fit with existing beliefs
and ignore contradictory experiences.
Believing and Knowing
We use the word knowing to distinguish beliefs supported by
strong reasons or evidence (e.g., the belief that life exists on
earth) from beliefs for which there is less support (e.g., the
belief that life exists on other planets) or from beliefs disproved
by reasons or evidence to the contrary.
This saying expresses another way to understand the difference
between believing and knowing:
• “You can believe what is not so, but you cannot know
what is not so.”
Believing and Knowing
Knowledge and Truth
What do we do when the truth of a situation is unclear? As
critical thinkers, we must:
• Analyze and evaluate all the available information
• Develop our own well-reasoned beliefs
• Recognize when we lack sufficient information to arrive at
well-reasoned beliefs.
We must realize, too, that beliefs may evolve over time as we
obtain more information or improve our insight.
Some people take refuge in a belief in the absolute, unchanging
nature of knowledge and truth as presented by some authority,
or they conclude that there is no such thing as knowledge or
truth and that trying to seek either is futile.
Believing and Knowing
Understanding Relativism
Relativism is the idea that all beliefs are considered “relative” to
the person or context in which they arise.
For a relativist, all opinions are equally valid; no one is ever in a
position to say with confidence that one view is right and
another one wrong.
Relativism is appropriate in some cases — for example, in
matters of taste such as fashion.
However, knowledge, in the form of well-supported beliefs, does
exist: Some beliefs are better than others because they can be
analyzed against measurable criteria.
Believing and Knowing
Understanding Falsifiable Beliefs
Another important criterion for evaluating a belief is that it be
falsifiable. This means that it is possible to state conditions
under which the belief could be disproved.
For example, if you believe you can create ice cubes by placing
water-filled trays in a freezer, you could disprove this belief if no
ice cubes form after you put the trays in the freezer.
If you believe your destiny is related to the positions of the
planets and stars (as astrologers do), it is unclear how you
would conduct an experiment to test that belief. A belief that is
not falsifiable can never be proved, and is therefore
questionable.
Ways of Presenting Beliefs
When you write, you present your beliefs in three ways: reports,
inferences, and judgments.
Your choice of words establishes which of the three you are
using:
• Report: My bus was late today.
• Inference: My bus will probably be late tomorrow.
• Judgment: The bus system is unreliable.
Ways of Presenting Beliefs
Reporting Factual Information
The first statement on the previous slide reports a fact: the bus was
late. When you describe the world in ways that can be verified, you are
reporting factual information.
Inferring from Evidence
In the second statement, there is no way to determine whether the bus
will indeed be late. When you describe the world based on factual
information, yet go beyond the facts to make statements about what is
not currently known, you are inferring.
Making Judgments
In the third statement, the speaker is applying certain standards
(criteria) to conclude that the bus service is unreliable. You are judging
when you describe the world in ways that evaluate it on the basis of
certain criteria.
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
In this Lesson you’ll write a paper in
which you consider some influences
on the development of your beliefs
about a social issue or an idea
related to an academic field. (See
the text for more detailed
guidelines.)
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Situation
Purpose: You will look closely at how you come to accept
concepts and at how you define what you believe and what you
consider true. In doing so, you will take different kinds of
information and pull them together. Such synthesis is the central
purpose of many kinds of academic and professional writing.
Audience: As usual, your instructor will be the audience who
will judge how well you have articulated your beliefs, how you
have selected the influences on your beliefs, how you have
handled the sources, and how you have planned, drafted,
revised, and edited your essay.
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Situation, Continued
Subject: Examining the sources of beliefs and evaluating
evidence are among the most challenging of activities. As you
draft, be aware of the criteria for constructing a solid argument:
specific support for a claim, whether information is current,
appropriateness of examples and authorities, and responsible
attribution.
Writer: You should be as open as possible to new ways of
thinking about your beliefs. After such critical analysis, some
writers find that their beliefs have been strengthened; others
may realize that some of their beliefs were based on unreliable
information and need to be reevaluated.
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Process
Generating Ideas:
• Think about sources in your field that have provided you
with information that you believe. Why have they had this
effect?
• Think about any sources that you are reluctant to trust or
believe. Why have they had this effect?
• What concepts in this field do you believe most firmly? Are
there some that you question?
• Freewrite for five minutes about your ideas for this project.
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Process, Continued
Defining a Focus: Does your idea have more than one or two aspects?
For example, the issue of high-stakes testing in public schools raises
questions about the kind of tests used, the effects on students’ passing
to the next grade, the effects on school funding or ratings, and the
effects on curriculum. If this is the case, consider focusing on only on
one aspect.
Here are some other suggestions for defining a focus:
• If you haven’t decided on one belief, write several. Are they
interpretations, evaluations, conclusions, or predictions?
• Consider your level of belief. Are you strongly convinced that your
belief is plausible? Why or why not?
• Focus on differences. Does a popular press, television, or website
account differ from what a book says or what a professor has
taught you?
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Process, Continued
Organizing Ideas:
• If you created a rough outline while you were looking for a
focus, review it to see if you need to rearrange your ideas.
• If you have several sources for your belief, does each one
deserve at least a paragraph?
• If your beliefs have changed, will you address this in your
paper?
• If you are contrasting two perspectives, have you structured
the contrast logically?
• Have you planned a conclusion? Does it refer to the
influences on your beliefs?
Writing Project: Analyzing Beliefs
The Writing Process, Continued
Drafting:
• Draft a new outline or map, if necessary, as you rethink what
you want to say. Look at your preliminary thesis statement.
Do you need to rework it now, or should you wait until you
have drafted more?
• Shape the paragraphs that will make up the body of your
essay. Draft clear topic sentences; think about where the
topic sentence should be placed in each paragraph.
• Draft an opening paragraph and a concluding paragraph,
understanding that you may want to revise them later.
Revising, Editing, and Proofreading: Use the Step-by- Step
method in Chapter 6 on pages 169– 171 to revise your essay.