Making Your Mind Matter Strategies for

Making Your Mind Matter is a practical guide to effective thinking in college and in everyday life, following the WISE model (Wonder, Investigate, Speculate, Evaluate).

Vincent Ryan Ruggiero is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the movement to make creative and critical thinking a central emphasis in education. The author of nineteen books and more than seventy-five articles, he is professor emeritus of humanities at the State University of New York, Delhi.

Introduction: The Neglect of the Mind

xiii

American education has neglected students' minds for a century and everyone has been affected. Knowing how this tragedy happened is the first step toward reversing its effects in your life.

The Influence of Positivism

xv

The Influence of Romanticism

xvii

The Challenge to You

xxi

1 Understanding Thinking

1

(16)

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.

Alfred Korzybski

Basic Axioms of Thinking

3

(6)

Axiom 1: Truth Is Objective rather than Subjective, and Discovered rather than Created

4

(1)

Axiom 2: If Two Statements Are Mutually Contradictory, One Must Be False

5

(1)

Axiom 3: The Human Mind Is Fallible

6

(2)

Axiom 4: Ideas Have Consequences

8

(1)

The Dimensions of Thinking

9

(6)

The Reflective Dimension

9

(2)

The Creative Dimension

11

(3)

The Critical Dimension

14

(1)

The WISE Approach to Thinking

15

(2)

2 Overcoming Obstacles

17

(14)

Either you control your mental habits and attitudes, or they control you. The choice is yours.

The Basic Problem: Egocentrism

17

(4)

Mine-Is-Better Perspective

18

(1)

Self Serving Bias

19

(1)

Inflated Self-Esteem

19

(1)

Face Saving

20

(1)

Other Habits That Obstruct Thought

21

(5)

Mental Sloth

21

(1)

Gullibility/Conformity

22

(1)

Bias for the Majority or Minority

23

(1)

Bias for or against Change

23

(1)

Preconceptions

24

(1)

Reliance on Feelings and First Impressions

24

(2)

Attitudes That Obstruct Thought

26

(3)

"I Already Know Everything Worth Knowing"

26

(1)

"To Challenge My Ideas Is to Disrespect Me"

27

(1)

"Some Subjects Are Interesting, Others Are Boring"

28

(1)

"Rules and Procedures Don't Apply to Me"

28

(1)

Becoming Your Own Critic

29

(2)

3 Resisting Manipulation

31

(18)

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

Oscar Wilde

Major Contemporary Influences

32

(5)

Advertising

32

(1)

Television and Movies

33

(2)

Journalism

35

(2)

Political Discourse

37

(1)

Notable Devices of Manipulation

37

(6)

Repetition

38

(1)

Bandwagon

38

(1)

Glittering Generality

38

(1)

Empty Comparison

39

(1)

Slogans

39

(1)

Testimonial

40

(1)

Transfer

40

(1)

Stacking the Deck

40

(1)

Selective Reporting of Facts

41

(1)

Demonizing People

42

(1)

Rumors and Hoaxes

43

(1)

Resisting Manipulation

43

(10)

Know Your Vulnerabilities

44

(1)

Corroborate Information

44

(1)

Get Both Sides of the Story

44

(1)

Talk Back to the TV

45

(1)

Read the Fine Print in Advertisements

46

(1)

Continue Using the WISE Approach

47

(2)

4 Testing Ideas

49

(10)

Ideas are to the mind as food is to the body. And the rule governing their consumption is the same: Examine carefully before swallowing.

Facts versus Statements of Fact

49

(1)

Two Kinds of Opinion

50

(1)

The Value of Expert Opinion

51

(1)

Testing Statements of Fact

52

(1)

Testing Opinions

53

(4)

Assess the Author's Evidence

53

(1)

Search for Contrary Evidence

54

(1)

Consider Relevant Situations

54

(1)

Think of Exceptions

55

(1)

Consider Implications

55

(1)

Consider Alternative Opinions

55

(1)

Consider the Consequences

56

(1)

Play "Devil's Advocate"

56

(1)

Be Prepared for Complexity

57

(2)

5 Recognizing Errors in Reasoning

59

(12)

An important characteristic of a quality mind is the ability to detect flaws in other peoples reasoning and to purge them from one's own.

Unwarranted Assumption

60

(1)

Hasty Conclusion

61

(1)

Overgeneralization

62

(1)

Oversimplification

63

(1)

False Analogy

64

(1)

False Cause

65

(1)

Double Standard

65

(1)

Failure to Make Distinctions

66

(1)

Either/Or Thinking

67

(1)

Straw Man

68

(1)

Contradiction

68

(2)

Errors Can Multiply

70

(1)

6 Analyzing Arguments

71

(14)

We might as well give up the fiction That we can argue any view. For what in me is pure Conviction Is simple Prejudice in you.

Phyllis McGinley

Hidden Premises

73

(1)

Complex Arguments

74

(1)

Types of Evidence

75

(4)

How Much Evidence Is Enough?

79

(2)

Analyzing Complex Arguments

81

(5)

Determine the Argument's Structure

81

(1)

Check for Hidden Premises

81

(1)

Summarize the Argument

81

(1)

Ask Appropriate Questions

82

(1)

Evaluate the Argument

83

(2)

7 Making Ethical Judgments

85

(14)

Morality, like art, consists in drawing the line somewhere.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

The "Ought" Controversy

86

(1)

The Case for "Ought"

87

(4)

Objection #1

87

(1)

Objection #2

88

(1)

Objection #3

89

(1)

Objection #4

90

(1)

Objection #5

90

(1)

Objective Morality

91

(1)

Respect for Persons

92

(1)

Criteria for Ethical Judgment

93

(2)

Obligations

93

(1)

Ethical Ideals

94

(1)

Consequences

95

(1)

A Strategy for Moral Judgment

95

(2)

Decide What Obligations Are Present

95

(1)

Decide What Moral Ideals Are Relevant

95

(1)

Where Conflicts Exist, Assign Priorities

96

(1)

Identify Possible Actions and Their Consequences

96

(1)

Decide Which Action Is Most Moral

96

(1)

Applying the Strategy

97

(2)

Appendix: Making Discussion Meaningful

99

(4)

To do all the talking and not be willing to listen is a form of greed.

Democritus of Abdera

Whenever Possible, Prepare in Advance

100

(1)

Set Reasonable Expectations

100

(1)

Leave Egotism and Personal Agendas at the Door

100

(1)

Contribute but Don't Dominate

101

(1)

Avoid Distracting Speech Mannerisms

101

(1)

Listen Actively

101

(1)

Judge Ideas Responsibly

102

(1)

Resist the Urge to Shout or Interrupt

102

(1)

Notes

103

(6)

Bibliography

109

(4)

Index

113

(6)

About the author

119

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Making Your Mind Matter Strategies for Increasing Practical Intelligence

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials