A reading guide 6 articles
Critical Thinking
Separate the claim from its support. Then ask which check would most improve your confidence in the conclusion.
Critical thinking begins with a specific claim, not a general posture of doubt. What would have to be true for the claim to hold? How was the evidence gathered? Could the same observation support another explanation? The articles in this collection turn those questions into concrete reasoning tasks, from reviewing a workplace analysis to examining an apparently persuasive demonstration.
Use the introductory article to establish the basic approach. Choose workplace practice when a report, forecast or spreadsheet needs checking. Choose the teaching guide when the challenge is helping someone else practice the method. Other essays distinguish critical thinking from analytical thinking, connect it to problem solving, and examine how to retain judgment while using AI. The goal is a proportionate check: spend more effort where an error would matter, and keep uncertainty visible when evidence remains incomplete.
Choose a starting point
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Examine how evidence supports a claim
Start with the basic questions that separate an observation from an explanation.
Critical Thinking: What Clever Hans Teaches About Evidence -
Check a workplace conclusion
Look at assumptions, inputs and comparisons before relying on a polished result.
Critical Thinking in the Workplace: The Spreadsheet Test -
Practice the method with others
Use an explicit reasoning task so learners can show how they reached their judgment.
How to Teach Critical Thinking: The Lateral Reading Lesson
All articles
6 in this collectionCritical Thinking and Problem Solving: Semmelweis's Test
Critical thinking and problem solving through Semmelweis's 1847 handwashing test: rule out causes, test one change against a comparison, and make the fix last.
Critical Thinking in the Workplace: The Spreadsheet Test
Critical thinking in the workplace, via the Reinhart-Rogoff error a grad student caught: questions that change decisions, a meeting protocol, and a quick check.
Critical Thinking vs Analytical Thinking: The Bomber Test
Critical thinking vs analytical thinking, shown through Abraham Wald's WWII bomber data: what each one does, how they fail alone, and a 5-minute two-pass check.
Critical Thinking: What Clever Hans Teaches About Evidence
Critical thinking explained through Clever Hans, the horse that passed a 13-expert inquiry in 1904: six core skills, misplaced doubt, and a quick claim check.
How to Teach Critical Thinking: The Lateral Reading Lesson
How to teach critical thinking, based on Stanford research where fact checkers beat historians: a 45-minute lesson, a reasoning rubric, and transfer practice.
How to Use AI Without Losing Critical Thinking
Use AI without losing critical thinking: make a first attempt, challenge assumptions, verify important claims, and test what you can do unaided.
Before you read
How is critical thinking different from being skeptical of everything?
It asks for reasons in proportion to the claim and the stakes. Dismissing every source is not the goal. Compare evidence, consider alternatives, and state what would change your confidence.
Is analytical thinking the same thing?
They overlap, but an analysis can be internally tidy while starting from a weak assumption. The comparison article examines how breaking a problem into parts differs from evaluating whether the reasoning deserves confidence.
Where can I practice without taking on a large project?
Choose one claim in a report or article. Identify its source, the comparison it relies on, and a plausible alternative explanation. Record one check that would help distinguish the explanations.