练习
1.很多年前一位思考专家做了下面的观察：“没有受过训练的人会倾向于在没有充分的证据时迅速得到结论，受过训练的思考者的主要特征是他不会这样。”（在那时，“he”这个单词通常意味着包括男人和女人。）想一下几个近期你在只有一点或没有证据得出意见的时刻。在每个案例中陈述意见并解释要充分支持意见，什么样的证据是必须的。
漫画作者斯科特亚当（Scott Adam）曾经观察到，“记者们每天面临着费劲艰辛寻找故事或者写下别人告诉他的故事的选择。两种方式都得到同样报酬。”如果有的话，以什么方式，这个评论和本章的主题相关？请解释。
3.若干年前，一位著名电视女演员在一个访谈节目中讨论一系列主题，包括她演出的一个片段，两位女同性恋者在镜头前亲吻。这位女演员主动表达这个意见：“在我们的社会这是个憎恨同性恋者力量巨大，对男同性恋犯罪的时代，现在达到顶峰状态。”如果访谈节目主持人曾经是个批判性思考者，在那时他会问什么问题？什么样的证据对于测试她意见的合理性有帮助？
4.在第五章练习10，你对下面每一个问题都提出了自己的意见。重新回顾那些意见和支持他们的证据。在每个案例中将证据分类为：个人经验、未发表的报告、已发表的报告、目击证人证言、名人证言、专家意见、实验、统计、调查、正式观察和研究综述。判断你的证据是否充足。如果你发现证据不充足，解释一下必须要什么样的证据支持意见完整。
a.在离婚案件中，法庭应使用什么原则决定父母的哪一方得到孩子的监护权？
b.到什么年纪，小孩可以被掴（如果他们的确有必要被挨打的话）？
c.在所有州最小喝酒的年龄都应该是16岁？
d.在什么情况下，如果有的话，美国应该首先使用核武器？
e.鬼魂存在吗？如果有，他们会影响人们的行为吗？
f.结局能够决定手段的正确性吗？
g.规律地参加课堂学习能提高一个人学术成功的机会？
h.50年前，教师比现在更加受人尊敬吗？
i.在周末饮酒作乐就是酗酒吗？
j.是反社会行为增加了，还是媒体工作更加积极，报道的更多？
在第一章练习9，你就下面的每一个陈述发表了意见。按照上面练习4的指引重新核查你的每一个意见。
a.聘请卫生保健工作人员应该要做艾滋病检测。
b.应该禁止孩子的选美竞赛和智力竞赛。
c.像3k党（Ku Klux Klan）这样的极端组织，应该允许在公共场所举行集会，或者讨论在城市街道上进行游行的可行性。
d. 所有的学生都要修一年级的作文课。
e.高中和大学的运动员要做合成代谢类固醇使用的检测
f.应该在高中生物课上教授创造论
g.一夫多妻制应该合法化。
h. 投票的年龄应该降低到16岁。
i.监狱系统应该更多的强调对犯人的惩罚而不是改过自新。
j.应该要求医生和诊所在给未成年人进行节育手术或者辅助流产的时候，告诉未成年人的父母。
k. 如果一个男人的妻子赚的钱比他多，男人的自尊会严重受到伤害。
l. 女人喜欢依靠男人。
不同的意见
下面的段落汇总了一个重要的异议。阅读结束后，使用图书馆或者互联网，找到知识渊博的人关于这个议题说过什么。确保覆盖所有的观点。然后评价每个观点的优点和弱点。如果你结论是，其中一个观点完全正确，其他的都错了，解释为什么你得出这个结论。如果，更有可能的是，你发现一个观点比其他的更有洞见，但是其他的也提供有用的要点，汇总所有的观点并构建你自己的观点，并解释为什么这个观点是所有观点中最合理的。按照你导师的要求，用书面或者口头报告的方式介绍你的答复。
应该废除最低工资法吗？在过去50年的主流观点认为不应该废除最低工资法。事实上，很多人认为最低工资太低，需要提高。这个观点的支持者在道德角度上进行争论：每个工人都应该要有“生活工资”，并且只有政府才能保证雇主履行这个义务。他们还在现实角度中争论：更高的起薪工资会激励工人工作更努力并且提高技术。那些认为应该废除最低工资法的人声称，当小企业也适用最低工资法的时候，他们被迫抬高价格损害消费者的利益，或者取消工作岗位，减少了潜在工作者的机会。一位经济学家注意到，最低工资法伤害了年轻人和少数族群成员，因为“最低工资法的净经济效应让缺乏技术的、缺乏经验的、或者其他不够醒目的工人更加昂贵——这样，价格使他们无法获得工作机会。”
使用短语“赞成或反对最低工资法”在谷歌上进行搜索，开始你的分析。
原文：
Applications
Many years ago an expert on thinking made this observation: “Probably the main characteristic of the trained thinker is that he does not jump to conclusions on insufficient evidence as the untrained man is inclined to do.”4 (Note: At that time, he and man were commonly used to denote both men and women.) Think of several recent occasions when you formed opinions with little or no evidence. In each case state the opinion and explain what kind of evidence would be necessary to support it adequately.
Cartoonist Scott Adams once observed, “Reporters are faced with the
daily choice of painstakingly researching stories or writing whatever people tell them. Both approaches pay the same.”5 In what way, if any, is this remark related to the subject of this chapter? Explain.Some years ago, a well-known television actress was on a talk show discussing a number of topics, including an episode of her show in which two lesbians kissed on camera. The actress volunteered this opinion: “This is a time in our society when homophobia is really huge and crimes against gays are at an all-time high.” If the talk show host had been a critical thinker, what questions would he have asked at that point? What kind of evidence would be helpful in testing the reasonableness of her opinion?
In Chapter 5, application 10, you responded to each of the following questions with an opinion. Review those opinions and the evidence you offered in support of them. In each case classify the evidence as personal experience, unpublished report, published report, eyewitness testimony, celebrity testimony, expert opinion, experiment, statistics, survey, formal observation, or research review. Decide whether your evidence was sufficient. If you find it was not, explain what kind of evidence would be necessary to support the opinion adequately.
a. In divorce cases, what guidelines should the courts use in deciding which parent gets custody of the children?
b. Until what age should children be spanked (if indeed they should be spanked at all)?
c. Should the minimum drinking age be sixteen in all states?
d. In what situation, if any, should the United States make the first strike with nuclear weapons?
e. Do evil spirits exist? If so, can they influence people’s actions?
f. Does the end ever justify the means?
g. Does attending class regularly increase one’s chances for academic success?
h. Were teachers more respected fifty years ago than they are today?
i. Does binge drinking on weekends constitute alcoholism?
j. Is antisocial behavior increasing, or are the media just doing a better job of reporting it?
- In Chapter 1, application 9, you expressed an opinion about each of the statements listed below. Reexamine each of your responses, following the directions in application 4 above.
a. Health care workers should be required to be tested for HIV/AIDS.
b. Beauty contests and talent competitions for children should be banned.
c. Extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan should be allowed to hold rallies
on public property or be issued permits to hold parades on city streets.
d. Freshman composition should be a required course for all students.
e. Athletes should be tested for anabolic steroid use.
f. Creationism should be taught in high school biology classes.
g. Polygamy should be legalized.
h. The voting age should be lowered to sixteen.
i. The prison system should give greater emphasis to the punishment of inmates than to their rehabilitation.
j. Doctors and clinics should be required to notify parents of minors when they prescribe birth control devices for the minors.
k. Aman’s self-esteem is severely injured if his wife makes more money than he makes.
l. Women like being dependent on men.
A Difference of Opinion
The following passage summarizes an important difference of opinion. After reading the statement, use the library and/or the Internet and find what knowledgeable people have said about the issue. Be sure to cover the entire range of views. Then assess the strengths and weaknesses of each. If you conclude that one view is entirely correct and the others are mistaken, explain how you reached that conclusion. If, as is more likely, you find that one view is more insightful than the others but that they all make some valid points, construct a view of your own that combines the insights from all views and explain why that view is the most reasonable of all. Present your response in a composition or an oral report, as your instructor specifies.
Should the minimum wage be abolished? The dominant view over the past half-century is that the minimum wage should not be abolished. In fact, many believe it is far too low and should be increased. Proponents of this view make the moral argument that every worker deserves a “living wage” and only the government can ensure that employers meet this obligation. They also make the practical argument that a higher starting salary motivates workers to work hard and improve their skills. Those who believe the minimum wage should be abolished contend that when minimum wages are imposed on small businesses, they are forced to increase prices and penalize consumers or to cut jobs and limit opportunities for would-be workers. One economist notes that minimum wage laws harm younger workers and members of minority groups because “the net economic effect of minimum wage laws is to make less skilled, less experienced, or otherwise less desired workers more expensive—thereby pricing many of them out of jobs.”6
Begin your analysis by conducting a Google search using the term “pro con minimum wage.”