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Berpikir Kritis (Critical Thinking) itu Penting !


Kalau anda ingin dianggap pintar, anda harus responsif terhadap pemikiran orang lain. Kalau anda pendiam, anda akan dianggap bodoh oleh lingkungan anda. Jadilah Mr.Disagree, yang selalu mengkritisi pendapat orang lain! Saya ingat persis waktu jaman sekolah dulu, ketika seorang kawan beropini atau beranalisis terhadap suatu kasus atas permintaan dosen, teman-teman sekelas saya dulu selalu berlomba-lomba mengatakan "I Don’t Agree Sir………, dan bla bla bla sejumlah alasan dikemukakan". Setidaknya itulah pengalaman saya, jika dosen-dosen saya dari Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Philipines memberikan perkuliahan. Dalam dunia intelektual, anda tidak boleh percaya begitu saja terhadap pernyataan seseorang. Silent is gold tidak berlaku disini. Seorang sarjana harus berifikirlah kritis terhadap semua fenomena kehidupan. Silent is stupid! Karena perfection is elusive and there is always room for improvement. Jadi jangan selalu teriak setuju seperti anggota DPR kita.


Berpikir kritis (critical thinking) itu penting.

Tujuan dari Critical Thinking adalah :.

  • Men-challenge. Asking Why? Why not? How?
  • Testing motives, bias, incompleteness
  • Nyari alternative explanations
  • Formulation and testing of hypotheses
  • Looking for mismatches
  • Analysis and synthesis



Bagaimana Good Critical Thinking :

  • Requires ability to assess premises of argument, and theoretical background also
  • Critical thinking begins with an assessment of the premises. Jadi harus lulus dulu mata kuliah filsafat ilmu & logika
  • Rumusnya adalah : If the premises are faulty, then the argument is also



Bad Premises, Arguments are fallacious if memenuhi kondisi-kondisi berikut :

  • Unacceptable premises : dubious, inaccurate
  • Irrelevant premises : No bearing on truth or conclusion
  • Insufficient premises : Do not eliminate reasonable doubt



Beberapa Slot/Ruang untuk mengkritisi analisis, pernyataan, atau kesimpulan seseorang:

  1. False Dilemma, jika satu aternatif salah, tidak berarti alternative lainnya benar

    • Either science can explain how a person was cured of a fatal disease or it was a miracle.
    • Science can’t explain how he was cured, does not means non science is true.
    • The two alternatives are not exhaustive
    • Since there are other options, the argument is fallacious.
  2. Composition, kesalahan komposisi, kondisi bagian tidak sama dengan konsidi total

    • Subatomic particles are lifeless.
    • Therefore, anything made of them is lifeless.
    • Whole may be greater than the sum of its parts.
    • Emergent properties (water molecule and wetness) are important
    • Fallacy is assuming that what is true of parts is true of whole.
  3. Division, jika dipecah kecil tidak berarti sama dengan asalnya

    • We are alive.
    • We are made of sub-atomic particles.
    • Sub atomic particles are alive.
    • The converse of the fallacy of composition
    • What is true of the whole is not necessarily true of the parts.
    • Components do not equal wholes.
  4. Genetic Fallacy, kondisi ideal belum tentu benar, jika tidak didukung fakta

    • The insight about how molecules arrange themselves came from a vision.
    • A vision is not a scientific experiment.
    • The origin of a claim is irrelevant to truth or falsity.
    • Depends on evidence supporting it.
  5. Appeal to Authority, yang dikatakan oleh expert belum tentu benar

    • Linus Pauling won a Nobel Prize.
    • Pauling says massive doses of vitamin C prevents colds, increases life expectancy.
    • Therefore I should take lots of vitamin C.
    • Appeal to celebrity or famous person is not a proof of contention or endorsement.
    • May be true but the fact that he says so is irrelevant to proof.
  6. Appeal to the Masses, yang dikatakan oleh banyak orang belum tentu benar

    • Everybody I know is taking money out of the stock market.
    • Because they are doing it, I should too.
    • Quantity of examples of a behavior is not necessarily proof, just popularity.
    • Popularity is not a reliable indicator of reality, truth or value.
  7. Appeal to Tradition, yang sudah menjadi kebiasaan belum tentu benar

    • Astrology has been around for ages.
    • Important people believed in its utility—(Caesar, Hitler, the Reagans)
    • Therefore, there must be something to it.
    • Fact that an idea has been around for a long time does not mean it is true or that it should be continued.
    • Slavery was a "tradition" before outlawed.
  8. Hasty Generalization, jangan mengeneralisasi hanya berdasarkan satu fakta

    • Can’t judge a class of people by observing only one—or many.
    • Inference is legitimate only if the sample is representative of the class investigated.
    • There are usually exceptions to generalizations.
  9. Faulty Cause, tidak semua yang berurutan menjadi penyebab

    • Night follows day.
    • Therefore, day causes night.
    • Because two events are constantly linked does not mean that one causes the other.
    • May be other factors involved—causal connection assumed, not proven.