Richard Paul: pioneer of the international critical thinking movement, founding the Critical Thinking Foundation.

Linda Elder: An educational psychologist focusing on the combination of critical thinking and cognitive psychology.

Chinese version: Renmin University Press, September 2016, 1st edition

Translator: Li Xiaoping

Publication background: Under the background of China's higher education reform, the demand for critical thinking education has increased.

Recommended by: Domestic educational scholar or psychology expert (specific names need to be added, such as the original book has a preface).

Recommended reasons: cultivate independent thinking ability, deal with cognitive traps in the era of information explosion, and improve the quality of decision-making.

Part One: The Basic Concepts of Critical Thinking

Part 2: Elements and Standards of Thinking

Part 3: Thinking obstacles and self-transcendence

Part 4: Application scenarios of critical thinking

Theoretical layer: Define critical thinking → disassemble thinking elements → propose thinking standards → analyze thinking obstacles.

Practical layer: methodological tools → case analysis → application scenarios (study, work, life decisions).

Progressive relationship: From "cognizing the defects of self-thinking" to "mastering tools and optimizing thinking", ultimately achieving "thinking autonomy".

Thinking requires "self-correction" ability, with "fairness" as the highest standard.

Three levels of thinking:

Thinking standards (8 items): clarity, accuracy, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness.

Thinking elements (8 items): purpose, problem, information, concept, assumption, perspective, reasoning, conclusion.

Intellectual characteristics (7 items): humility, courage, empathy, integrity, perseverance, self-confidence, independence.

Three-layer structure of thinking:

Self-centerism and group-centerism: Two major cognitive traps of human thinking.

Definition: Untested implicit premise.

Case: During the interview, I believe that "low education = poor ability" is considered, and the actual work performance data is ignored.

Scenario: Identify “landslide fallacy” in the debate (such as “allowing abortion will lead to social moral collapse”).

Cognitive bias: confirmation bias, anchoring effect, black or white thinking.

Emotional interference: defensive thinking (such as denying criticism), rationalizing excuses.

“Critical thinking is a rethinking of thinking.”

“Justice is the highest virtue of thinking, but few people really do it.”

“Egocentrism is the greatest enemy of reason.”

Critical Thinking Tools: Methodological Extension

"How to Ask a Question": Focus on the construction of problems in thinking.

Books: "Thinking, Fast and Slow" (Daniel Kahneman), "Beyond Feeling" (Vincent Rugiro).

Theory: dual system theory of cognitive psychology, basic logic (fallac identification).

Does critical thinking overemphasize “rationality” and ignore emotional value?

Does the "mind standard" apply to non-Western cultural contexts?

How to balance critical thinking with intuitive decision-making?

Related Books: Intuition Pump (Daniel Dennett) explores the relationship between reason and intuition.