Ajith: I find people nowadays are dishonest. They don't show loyalty in their behaviours.

Vijay: Don't worry! Life is fair and what goes around comes back around.

In the example above Ajith demonstrates Subjectivism.

Before we can effectively evaluates what we hear/see/read, we need to pay close attention to details and make sure we get specific information.

The above statement demonstrates the critical thinking standard known as Precision.

Narrow-mindedness, unwarranted assumptions, wishful thinking, scapegoating, peer pressure are associated with barriers to critical thinking.

All philosophers are professors. All professors are logicians.

Therefore, all philosophers are not logicians.

The above argument is an example of Categorical Syllogism.

Ray is a football player. All football players weigh more than 170 pounds.

Therefore, Ray probably weighs more than 170 pounds.

The above argument is intended to be Inductive.

Inductive arguments are arguments based on assumptions in which the conclusion follows only with some degree of probability and the conclusion is indefinite.

As land and sea undergo rapid changes, the animals that inhabit them are doomed to disappear if they don't adapt quickly enough.

".... if they do not adapt quickly enough" is the consequent in the above statement.

In the United States, hundreds of heat-related deaths occur each year due to heat-exacerbated and life-threatening illnesses.

"In the United States, hundreds of heat-related deaths occur each year....." is the explanandum in the above statement.

If a writer happens to agree with certain aspects of the opposing argument, then he or she can make a concession, which would mean to admit that an opposing view is correct.

There are several proven health benefits of chia seeds: loaded with massive amount of nutrients with very few calories, loaded with antioxidants and loaded in high quality protein.

The above is an example of Illustration.

Some phones are expensive.

All expensive phone models are Apple products.

So, some phones are Apple products.

The above is an example of deductive argument where the conclusion follows strictly from the premises.

All sharks are dangerous.

Jasmine is dangerous.

Therefore, she is a shark.

The above is an example of logical correctness.

Men are naturally more violent than women.

The above is NOT an example of Unsupported Assertion.

It is impossible for all the premises of a deductive to be true and the conclusion false.

Ethnocentrism can lead to negative judgments of the behaviours of groups or societies. It can also lead to discrimination against people who are different from our culture.

Whenever I visit the gynaecologist, he gives me a bill amounting to RM500.00. If I visit the gynaecologist today, he will give me a bill amounting to RM500.00 too.

The above is an example of Predictive Argument.

Queeny: Don't you realise that cheating people of their money is wrong?

Shini: I don't think so. I did it as I was hungry. I needed that money badly to buy me some food.

The above is an example of Self-serving bias.

The premises of an inductive argument provided good (but not conclusive) evidence for the truth of the conclusion.

Before the election....

Party A: All citizens will receive RM500 as a token of appreciation if Party A wins.

During the election....

Party A: All citizens will receive RM300 as a token of appreciation if Party A wins.

After the election...

Party A: All citizens will receive RM100 as a token of appreciation if Party A wins.

The above is NOT an example of practical inconsistency.

Logical correctness means that one is engaging in correct reasoning from what we believe in a given instance to the conclusions that follow from those beliefs.

Consistency means that the information and ideas discussed must be logically relevant to the issue being discussed. Many pundits and politicians are great at distracting us away from this.

Egocentric thinking is viewing everything in relation to oneself. These individuals are self-centered and consider only their interests. It is difficult for many people to identify this characteristic within themselves.

Parents are the main reason for their children’s academic failure.

The above statement represents stereotyping.

If you want to find a good job, you should work hard. You do want to find a good job. So you should work hard.

The first two sentences here are the premises of the argument, and the last sentence is the conclusion. To give this argument is to offer the premises as reasons for accepting the conclusion.

A rhetorical question is a sentence in form of question but was meant to be understood as a request.

All cars in this town drive on the right side of the road. Therefore, all cars in all towns drive on the right side of the street.

The above argument is intended to be inductive.

“I ate my usual breakfast today, but with bacon instead of my usual sausage, and now I feel thirsty. Bacon tastes saltier than sausage, so I think the bacon made me thirsty.”

The above is an argument using analogy.

Jason is an atheist. It necessarily follows that he lacks belief in the existence of God.

The above is meant to be deductive and uses a definition as its premise.

“If she was still interested in me, she would have called, but she didn’t.”

In the above statement, “she would have called” is the antecedent.

As critical thinkers, educators must be able to evaluate what their students, superiors, colleagues tell them.

A Syllogism is an argument that has two premises.

The conclusion follows strictly from the premises.

This is a characteristic of an inductive argument.

All philosophers are professors. All professors are logicians.

Therefore, all philosophers are not logicians.

The above argument is an example of categorical syllogism.

Raaj is an athlete. He is a sprinter. All sprinters weigh more than 170 pounds. Therefore, Raaj probably weighs more than 170 pounds.

The above argument is intended to be deductive.

Before Hadri evaluates Rakesh’s argument or claim, he needs to understand clearly what Rakesh is saying.

The above claim demonstrates Logical Correctness.

If the prices of sugar increases, cakes, buns and all types of desserts will cost more. The government recently announced a 40 cent hike in sugar prices.Therefore,cakes and buns will probably be expensive this Deepavali.

The above claim demonstrates Argument from Authority.

Before we can effectively evaluate what we hear/see/read, we need to pay close attention to details and make sure we get specific information.

The above statement demonstrates the critical thinking standard known as Logical Correctness

Mann : I find people nowadays are dishonest. They don’t show loyalty in their behaviors.

Ahmad: Don’t worry! Life is fair and what goes around comes back around.

Mann demonstrates subjectivism in the example above.

The argument “Taylor’s University offers scholarships to its good- achieving students; so Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahnman (UTAR) probably offers scholarships to its good- achieving students too”.

The above claim demonstrates an Argument from Analogy.