Critical Thinking: Developing Skills

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Introduction

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills for a professional practicing in any sphere. According to Roy Eichhorn (n.d.), critical thinking has been recognized as an individual sphere of knowledge and practice for many decades, and the first works acknowledging it date back to the 1940s. At that time, the ability to think critically and recognize the deeper meaning of information coming from the outside world became more attractive due to the pressure of the totalitarian governments that were operating in the majority of countries around the world (Eichhorn, n.d.).

Critical thinking can be defined as a self-directed and self-monitored process of thinking that involves other intellectual and cognitive abilities to improve the process of thinking itself. In other words, critical thinking can also be called “thinking about thinking” (Eichhorn, n.d.). Eichorn differentiated between eight steps of critical thinking: points of view, purpose, question, information, interpretation, concepts, assumptions, and implications. In this paper, all of the steps will be applied to a single memo. Also, a ninth step will be added, which involves the knowledge and identification of fallacies based on An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi.

The Purpose of Thinking (Goal, Objective)

The memo under examination was addressed to Mr. Kanye Kardashian-Fuentes, President of SAG-AFTRA union in Nevada, by HR Director RuPaul Fabowlus to address the conflict involving Ms. Eugenia Glover, a union member who had filed a lawsuit against the organization. The author of the memo explains the problem in detail by describing the events that caused Ms. Glover’s earlier termination. The description itself is presented in quite an objective way and does not include any judgments of any of the conflicting parties. Instead, Ms. Fabowlus simply outlines the sequence of actions that led to Ms. Glover’s lawsuit. Also, the author provides links to all of the articles and posts she mentions in the memo so that readers can better understand the events and the problem under discussion.

The goal of the author is to familiarize the readers with the issue and achieve a full understanding of the actions that need to be taken in response. Ms. Fabowlus makes the issue very comprehensible so that the readers can grasp the scale and importance of the problem, as well as its potential consequences for the organization they manage.

Question at Issue (Problem)

The problem discussed in the memo involves many sides: Ms. Glover, who accuses the union of being unfair and failing to fulfill its duties; the union managers and leaders, who need to decide whether to take Ms. Glover’s side or confront her accusations; Al Jazeera America (AJAM) and Bill O’Reilly, as parties participating in the conflict; and other stakeholders such as the members of the union, many of whom are powerful celebrities. Practically, the issue at stake is the reputation of each of the clashing sides. Ms. Glover is fighting for her professional image and the future of her career as a TV host and an editor. The SAG-AFTRA union and its leaders and managers are similarly interested in the preservation of their good names.

In particular, according to Ms. Fabowlus, the failure of the union to address the problem appropriately is likely to cause significant damage to its reputation and especially to the image of the union president, whose reelection depends on the votes of the union members; as stated by Ms. Fabowlus, the members will not continue to support the current president if he takes the side of Ms. Glover. At the same time, Ms. Glover’s concern is that her interests were underrepresented and unprotected by the union, which resulted in her being unable to find a job on television for ten years. Ms. Glover feels that she was victimized by her previous employers, who caused damage to her reputation by terminating her employment as an editor after a scandalous show discussed child abuse laws in a manner that produced a backlash in the press.

Information (Data, Facts, Observations, Experiences)

Thinking critically about the information presented in the memo, it is important to take into consideration the fact that many different points of view are included in the events. The author uses an excerpt from a Houston Chronicle article accusing Bill O’Reilly’s TV show of misrepresenting the facts; however, the author has attached a clip that shows the discussion on the show. That way, the reader can be informed of the cause of the scandal that resulted in Ms. Glover’s termination.

At the same time, the rest of the facts are presented carefully and fully and are supported by links. In the background section, the author provides a sufficient degree of disclosure of all the factors that contributed to the scandal, including all the stakeholders and their reactions, even citing the exact words of the participating parties. Indeed, the thorough information in this section is sufficient for the reader to make a sound and well-informed decision in response to the problem.

Interpretation and Inference (Conclusions, Solutions)

The discussion section of the memo presents the opinion of Ms. Fabowlus and includes her advice to the union president. The information in this part of the document is rather biased and includes multiple signs of the author’s personal opinions of the organization, Ms. Glover, and the other stakeholders in the conflict. For instance, speaking about Bill O’Reilly, the TV host who was accused of a misrepresentation of the facts, she states, “Everyone knows that Mr. O’Reilly is one of the smartest people in the entire country.” This statement is biased and presents the author’s attitude toward the host as if it were representative of the point of view of society in general.

Moreover, speaking about Ms. Glover, the author writes: “Ms. Glover and her greedy lawyer want us to put our good name and reputation on the line to support a member who could not get a job for over ten years.” In this statement, she allows herself to interpret the intentions of the accusing party and uses disrespectful, emotive language to describe Ms. Glover and her attorney. This style of writing seems like an attempt to persuade readers or shape their perceptions of the situation. In other words, it is clear that the author has a very strong personal opinion about the issue and the people involved. Moreover, she attempts to impose her point of view on the decision-maker by using an appeal to emotion and establishing the “right” and the “wrong” sides.

Concepts (Theories, Definitions, Axioms, Laws, Principles, Models)

Discussing the accusations posed by Ms. Glover against the union, the author quotes the mission statement of SAG-AFTRA. However, she does not explain in what ways the accusations of the former editor clash with the statement. In other words, the author claims that Ms. Glover is wrong in demanding that the union take her side and accusing it of failing to support her, but this claim remains without evidence.

Further, Ms. Fabowlus makes another bold statement in saying that “Ms. Glover is a weak mime and we should only represent the best mimes in the world.” This statement is positioned as an axiom; however, not all union members are mimes, and it is unknown why only the strongest ones should be represented by SAG-AFTRA. Right in the next sentence, the author moves on to describe the embarrassment that the situation caused to Mr. O’Reilly, which is unrelated to the previous claim about mimes. Moreover, the author’s definition of Mr. O’Reilly’s exceptionality and talent comes from her family members and friends, which is a sign of the biased, limited, and subjective perspective of Ms. Fabowlus.

All in all, the author of the memo presents a biased discussion of the situation and a one-sided representation of facts, focusing on her point of view rather than an objective analysis of different solutions and their potential consequences.

Assumptions (Presupposition, Taking for Granted)

In the discussion section of the memo, Ms. Fabowlus provides a series of assumptions of the greatness of the union and its power that are unsupported by statistics, data, or facts. In other words, the author expects these remarks to be taken for granted. Her flattery and compliments to the union are representative of a persuasion technique known as an appeal to emotion. For instance, the following is one of her arguments as to why the union president should not support Ms. Glover: “Ms. Glover is an unpopular DJ and an even worse news editor.

If we were to allow such a non-famous and unaccomplished individual to sully our union name by associating with her, our Nevada Local office could cease to exist.” In this statement, the author describes Ms. Glover in an openly aggressive and unflattering manner and, again, does not back her bold claims up with supporting facts or references. Moreover, this statement—as well as the one connecting the potential decision of the union president to support Ms. Glover with the likeliness of his failure in future elections—is a clear appeal to the emotion of fear, designed to convince the leader to take an opposing stance and confront the former editor. Both of the statements are presuppositions that highlight one of the most dramatic possible outcomes and present it as a definite and inevitable consequence.

Implications and Consequences

The implication of the memo is the effect anticipated by the author. Namely, the document is designed to serve as a tool of persuasion to convince readers to take the writer’s side and share her point of view. To be more precise, Ms. Fabowlus implies that if the readers choose not to follow her advice, it may result in adverse consequences for AJAM and SAG-AFTRA and its president in particular. These implications are expressed directly and with open confidence; however, they lack a logical explanation and a sane basis. Using very strong emotional statements, the author fails to properly connect these events with their implied outcomes, and thus her claims look empty and illogical.

For instance, the following claim is a good example of the author’s argument: “If we were to allow such a non-famous and unaccomplished individual to sully our union name by associating with her, our Nevada Local office could cease to exist.” The connection between the action (supporting Ms. Glover) and an implied consequence (cessation of the union) is not obvious. Does the author mean to say that the fact that Ms. Glover is “non-famous and unaccomplished” is the cause of the adverse effect that associating with her may have on the union? The characteristics of any one member are hardly enough to compromise the whole organization and cause its failure.

Points of View (Frame of Reference, Perspective, Orientation)

In the background section, the author provided objective facts, quotes, and references to paint a full picture of the scandal and its effects on the readers. However, in the other two parts of the memo, Ms. Fabowlus uses a wide range of techniques designed to persuade the readers to agree with her perspective on the situation. Namely, she appeals to such emotions as pride (praising the union and emphasizing its exceptional reputation), anger and selfishness (diminishing Ms. Glover and her attorney), and fear (creating a dire picture of the possible adverse consequences for SAG-AFTRA should they support Ms. Glover). Besides, she uses a series of powerful statements that are expected to be taken for granted. Moreover, the author adds supportive arguments that come only from her family and friends. Finally, she has a very established bias as she chooses to protect Mr. O’Reilly openly while aggressively attacking Ms. Glover. The arguments of Ms. Fabowlus can thus be characterized as biased and subjective.

Fallacies

Ms. Fabowlus uses many arguments in her memo, most of which are representative of fallacies described in the book by Almossawi. First of all, Ms. Fabowlus uses an argument from consequences when she states that should the union president choose to associate with Ms. Glover as a member, the other members will become dissatisfied and refuse to support him during the upcoming election. As mentioned by Almossawi (2013), the fact that any particular negative consequence is possible does not mean that the action is wrong.

Secondly, Ms. Fabowlus appeals to irrelevant authorities when she relies on the opinions of her brother-in-law and her friends because these points of view have no real power in the present situation.

Thirdly, Ms. Fabowlus puts up a straw man by stating that Ms. Glover “could not get a job for over ten years.” The fact is that Ms. Glover had several jobs throughout the course of the decade, but the one type of employment she could not get was editing on television. By describing the situation in this way, the author intentionally caricatures Ms. Glover and attacks a false quality.

Finally, the author’s logical fallacy, known as the appeal to fear, has been discussed previously. Besides, another bad argument of the author, commonly known as “No True Scotsman,” occurs when she states that Ms. Glover should not be supported by the union because she is a weak mime and only the strong ones deserve to be associated with SAG-AFTRA. The link provided in that statement contains no definition of a strong or weak mime; in fact, such a definition could only be highly arbitrary, and thus would not have much legal or logical power.

References

Almossawi, A. (2013). An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments. New York, NY: Jasper Collins Publishers.

Eichhorn, R. (n. d.). Developing thinking skills: Critical thinking at the army management staff college. Web.

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