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Book Description

Better critical thinking can transform your life and help you improve every decision you make! Now, in just 30 days, master specific, easy-to-learn critical thinking techniques that help you cut through lies, gain insight, and make smarter choices in every area of your life -- from work and money to intimate relationships. World-renowned critical thinking experts Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul show how to overcome poor thinking habits caused by self-delusion or out-of-control emotions... clarify what you really want... recognize what you don’t know… ask better questions... resist brainwashing, manipulation, and hypocrisy... critically evaluate what you’re told by advertisers, politicians, your boss, and even your family… avoid worrying, conformism, and blame. Every day, you'll focus on a specific thinking habit, mastering practical strategies for achieving results, tracking your progress, gaining confidence, and getting smarter! Expanded, improved, and easier to use, Discover the Power of Critical Thinking, Revised and Expanded edition offers today's most complete, practical plan for using critical thinking to build a better life. This edition adds five new "days" of critical thinking workouts, delivering even more powerful "life improvement" ideas. Brand-new illustrations and diagrams help you see the direct relevance of critical thinking in your own life, and you'll find a practical new introduction to the authors' Paul-Elder Framework for Critical Thinking, which is now being used by critical thinkers worldwide!

Table of Contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. More on What People Say About the 30 Days Book...
  4. Dedication Page
  5. Contents
  6. Introduction
    1. Improve Your Thinking, Improve Your Life
    2. Can Your Thinking Be Your Problem?
    3. A How-To List for Dysfunctional Living
    4. Take Your Thinking Seriously
    5. No Intellectual Pain, No Intellectual Gain
    6. The Concepts, Principles, and Tools of Critical Thinking
    7. Why Critical Thinking?
    8. The Figuring Mind
    9. Analyze Your Thinking (Focusing on the Elements of Reasoning)
    10. Assess Your Thinking (Using Reasonable Standards)
    11. Systematically Apply Intellectual Standards to the Elements of Reasoning to Develop Intellectual Traits
    12. Pursue the Constellation of Intellectual Traits
    13. Understand the Mind’s Three Distinctive Functions
    14. Recognize Thinking as the Key to Feelings and Desires
    15. Distinguish Rational from Egocentric and Sociocentric Thoughts
    16. Understand Egocentric Thinking as a Problem
    17. Distinguish Egocentric Domination from Egocentric Submission
    18. Understand Sociocentric Thinking as a Problem
    19. A Substantive Approach to Critical Thinking Targets
    20. The Thirty-Day Plan
    21. Tips for Internalizing Each Idea
    22. Planning and Logging Your Progress
  7. Day One. Discover Your Ignorance
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for developing intellectual humility
    3. Questions you might ask to identify weaknesses in your thinking
  8. Day Two. Strive to Be a Person of Integrity: Beware of Your Own Hypocrisy
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for reducing hypocrisy in yourself
    3. Strategies for noticing hypocrisy in others
  9. Day Three. Empathize with Others
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for empathizing with others
  10. Day Four. Deliberately Target Your Purposes
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Questions you can ask to target purpose
    3. Strategies for targeting purposes
  11. Day Five. Don’t Be a Conformist: Think for Yourself
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for becoming an independent thinker
  12. Day Six. Clarify Your Thinking
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for clarifying your thinking
  13. Day Seven. Be Relevant: Stick to the Point
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Questions you can ask to make sure your thinking is focused on what is relevant
  14. Day Eight. Be Reasonable
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for becoming more reasonable
    3. Be on the lookout for...
  15. Day Nine. Ask Deep Questions
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for formulating more powerful questions
    3. Questions you can ask to discipline your thinking
  16. Day Ten. Distinguish Among Questions of Fact, Preference, and Judgment
    1. Questions of Procedure (Established or One-System)
    2. Questions of Preference (No System)
    3. Questions of Judgment (Conflicting Systems)
    4. Be on the lookout for...
    5. Strategies for internalizing and using the three types of questions
  17. Day Eleven. Think Through Implications
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for thinking through implications
    3. Questions you should ask to target implications
  18. Day Twelve. Distinguish Inferences from Assumptions
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for taking command of your inferences and assumptions
  19. Day Thirteen. Don’t Be Fooled by the Words People Use: Look Underneath Words to Unspoken Realities
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for choosing words more carefully
  20. Day Fourteen. When You Think You Have Arrived as a Critical Thinker, Think Again
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for continuing to develop as a critical thinker
  21. Day Fifteen. Be Fair, Not Selfish
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for developing as a fairminded thinker
    3. Questions you can ask to foster fairness in your thinking
  22. Day Sixteen. Get Control of Your Emotions
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for taking command of your emotional life
  23. Day Seventeen. Take Control of Your Desires
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for controlling your desires
  24. Day Eighteen. Don’t Dominate Others: Don’t Be a Top Dog
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for becoming less dominating
  25. Day Nineteen. Don’t Be Submissive; Don’t Be an Underdog
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for avoiding irrational submission
  26. Day Twenty. Don’t Be Brainwashed by the News Media
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for seeing through the news media
  27. Day Twenty-One. Carefully Choose the Ideas You Take in from Television, Ads, Movies, and the Internet
    1. Carefully observe...
    2. Strategies for critiquing television shows, ads, movies, and Internet resources
  28. Day Twenty-Two. Don’t Be Bamboozled by Politicians
    1. As you go through your day...
    2. Strategies for seeing through politicians
  29. Day Twenty-Three. Don’t Be a Blamer
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for taking charge of who you are
  30. Day Twenty-Four. Don’t Be Righteous: Show Mercy
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for showing compassion and mercy
  31. Day Twenty-Five. Vow to Spend No Time Worrying
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for relinquishing the worrying habit
  32. Day Twenty-Six. Be a Citizen of the World
    1. It is becoming increasingly clear...
    2. Strategies for becoming a citizen of the world
  33. Day Twenty-Seven. Do Something, Anything, to Help Make the World Better
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for contributing to a more just world
  34. Day Twenty-Eight. See Your Development Occurring in Stages
    1. Be on the lookout for...
    2. Strategies for moving through the stages
  35. Day Twenty-Nine. Educate Yourself
    1. Place the cultivation of your mind...
    2. Strategies for self-education
  36. Day Thirty. Figure Out Where to Go from Here
    1. Focus your energy today on...
    2. Strategies for taking the next steps toward development
  37. Reading Backwards
  38. Recommended Readings to Augment the Strategies
  39. Appendix. Glossary of Terms
    1. References
  40. Index
  41. About the Authors
  42. FT Press
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