Guide to Critical Thinking

Can you recall a time when you acted or made 
a decision while you were experiencing strong 
emotions? Relying on our emotions to make decisions 
undermines our ability to develop confidence in our 
rational judgments. Moreover, emotional decisions 
cannot typically be justified and often lead to regret.
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Section 1.1 
What Is Critical Thinking?
impact: a favorite toy, a first love, a painful loss. Many interpret gut feelings as revelations 
of what they need to do. It is thus easy to assume that emotions can lead us to truth. Indeed, 
emotions can reveal phenomena that may be otherwise inaccessible. Empathy, for example, 
permits us to share or recognize the emotions that others are experiencing (Stein, 1989).
The problem is that, on their own, emotions are not reliable sources of information. Emotions 
can lead you only toward what feels right or what feels wrong—but cannot guarantee that 
what feels right or wrong is indeed the right or wrong thing to do. For example, acting self-
ishly, stealing, and lying are all actions that can bring about good feelings because they satisfy 
our self-serving interests. By contrast, asking for forgiveness or forgiving someone can feel 
wrong because these actions can unleash feelings of embarrassment, humiliation, and vulner-
ability. Sometimes emotions can work against our best interests. For example, we are often 
fooled by false displays of goodwill and even affection, and we often fall for the emotional 
appeal of a politician’s rhetoric.
The best alternative is the route marked by logical reasoning, the principal tool for developing 
critical thinking. The purpose of this book is to help you learn this valuable tool. You may be 
wondering, “What’s in it for me?” For starters, you are bound to gain the peace of mind that 
comes from knowing that your decisions are not based solely on a whim or a feeling but have 
the support of the firmer ground of reason. Despite the compelling nature of your own emo-
tional barometer, you may always wonder whether you made the right choice, and you may 
not find out until it is too late. Moreover, the emotional route for decision making will not help 
you develop confidence in your own judgments in the face of uncertainty.
In contrast, armed with the skill of logical reasoning, you can lead a life that you choose and 
not a life that just happens to you. This power alone can make the difference between a happy 
and an unhappy life. Mastering critical thinking results in practical gains—such as the ability 
to defend your views without feeling intimidated or inadequate and to protect yourself from 
manipulation or deception. This is what’s in it for you, and this is only the beginning.