CHAPTER 2 What Is Critical Thinking?
When Arthur was in the first grade, the teacher directed the class to “think.” “Now, class,” she said, “I know this problem is a little harder than the ones we’ve been doing, but I’m going to give you a few extra minutes to think about it. Now start thinking.”
It was not the first time Arthur had heard the word used. He’d heard it many times at home, but never quite this way. The teacher seemed to be asking for some special activity, something he should know how to start and stop—like his father’s car. “Vroom-m-m,” he muttered half aloud. Because of his confusion, he was unaware he was making the noise.
“Arthur, please stop making noises and start thinking.”
译文：
第二章 何谓批判性思考？
当Arthur小学，他老师指导他们思考。“好了，同学们”，他老师说，“我知道这个问题与以前我们一直在进行的相比有点难，但是我将给你们额外几分钟去思考它。现在开始思考。”
这不是Arthur第一次听到这个词被使用。他曾在家里听到过很多次，但是从没有用过这种方法。这个老师好像在要求一些特殊的活动，他应当制定如何开始并停止的活动，就像他父亲的小汽车。“呜呜呜---”，他低声咕哝着。由于这个困惑，他并没有意识到自己正在制造噪音。
“Arthur，请停止制造噪音开始思考。”
** vroom**英 [vruːm] 美 [vrum]n. 加速时发出的呜呜声vi. 发呜呜声
mutter英 ['mʌtə] 美 ['mʌtɚ]
vi. 咕哝；喃喃自语 vt. 咕哝；抱怨地说；低声含糊地说n. 咕哝；喃喃低语
Embarrassed and not knowing quite what to do, he looked down at his desk. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the little girl next to him was staring at the ceiling. “Maybe that’s the way you start thinking,” he guessed. He decided the others had probably learned how to do it last year, that time he was home with the measles. So he stared at the ceiling. As he progressed through grade school and high school, he heard that same direction hundreds of times. “No, that’s not the answer, you’re not thinking—now think!” And occasionally he would hear from particularly self-pitying teachers given to muttering to themselves aloud: “What did I do to deserve this? Don’t they teach them anything in the grades anymore? Don’t you people care about ideas? Think, dammit, THINK.” So Arthur learned to feel somewhat guilty about the whole matter. Obviously, this thinking was an important activity that he’d failed to learn. Maybe he lacked the brain power. But he was resourceful enough. He watched the other students and did what they did. Whenever a teacher started in about thinking, he screwed up his face, furrowed his brow, scratched his head, stroked his chin, stared off into space or up at the ceiling, and repeated silently to himself, “Let’s see now, I’ve got to think about that, think, think—I hope he doesn’t call on me—think.”
译文：
感到一阵尴尬，也不知道该做什么，他朝桌子底下看去。就在那时，他余光中瞥到坐在她旁边的小女孩开始盯着天花板。“也许这是你开始思考的方法”，他想道。他决定用其他去年学到的可能的方法，那段出麻疹待在家里的时间用到的。于是他开始盯着天花板；当他在中小学进行思考时，无数次听到同样的方向。“不，那不是答案，你不在思考——现在思考！”同时，他偶然听到十分自怨自艾的老师们大声自我责备：“我做了什么非要承受这样的事情？小学时他们难道没有教他们任何东西吗？人们难道不关心观念？思考，该死的思考。”
所以Arthur对整个事件多少感到愧疚，显然，这种思考是他未能习得的重要活动。可能他缺乏脑力，但他很机智。他观察了其他学生，而且照他们的方法做了。无论何时一个老师开始要求大家思考，他会把脸拧起来，皱起眉头，挠挠头，摸摸下巴，看向空中或者盯着天花板，并且不断地安静地自言自语，“让我想想，我必须想想思考这件事——我希望他不要再要求我思考。”
** measles** 英 ['miːz(ə)lz] 美 ['mizəlz] n. [内科] 麻疹；风疹
** self-pitying[`self'pitiiŋ]adj. 自怜的；自哀的
** dammit英 ['dæmɪt] int. 该死，真他妈的
** screw英 [skruː] 美 [skru]vt. 旋，拧；压榨；强迫n. 螺旋；螺丝钉；吝啬鬼vi. 转动，拧
** furrow英 ['fʌrəʊ] 美 ['fɝo]
n. 皱纹；犁沟；车辙vt. 犁；耕；弄绉vi. 犁田；开沟；犁出浪迹
** brow英 [braʊ] 美 [braʊ]n. 眉，眉毛；额；表情
** scratch英 [skrætʃ] 美 [skrætʃ]
n. 擦伤；抓痕；刮擦声；乱写adj. 打草稿用的；凑合的；碰巧的
vt. 抓；刮；挖出；乱涂 vi. 抓；搔；发刮擦声；勉强糊口；退出比赛
** stroke**英 [strəʊk] 美 [strok]
n. （游泳或划船的）划；中风；（打、击等的）一下；冲程；（成功的）举动；尝试；轻抚
vt. （用笔等）画；轻抚；轻挪；敲击；划尾桨；划掉；（打字时）击打键盘
vi. 击球；作尾桨手，指挥划桨；（打字时）击打键盘
Though Arthur didn’t know it, that’s just what the other students were saying to themselves.
Your experience may have been similar to Arthur’s. In other words, many people may have simply told you to think without ever explaining what thinking is and what qualities a good thinker has that a poor thinker lacks. If that is the case, you have a lot of company. Extensive, effective training in thinking is the exception rather than the rule. This fact and its unfortunate consequences are suggested by the following comments from accomplished observers of the human condition:
译文：
虽然Arthur并不值得，那正是其他学生对他们自己说的内容。
你的经历肯定和Arthur的类似。换句话说，许多人可能仅仅是告诉你你去思考，而没有解释什么是思考，一名优秀的思考者具备的品质是什么？这些品质证书不善于思考的人所不具备。如果这样的话，你并不孤单。思考中，大量有效的训练是例外而非一致的规则。下面的评论表明了这个事实和它不幸的结果，来自有成就的人类条件观察家。
The most interesting and astounding contradiction in life is to me the constant insistence by nearly all people upon “logic,” “logical reasoning,” “sound reasoning,” on the one hand, and on the other their inability to display it, and their unwillingness to accept it when displayed by others.1
Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.2
Clear thinking is a very rare thing, but even just plain thinking is almost as rare. Most of us most of the time do not think at all. We believe and we feel, but we do not think.3
Mental indolence is one of the commonest of human traits.4
译文：
对我来说，生活中最有趣且最令人震惊的悖论是一方面周围的人不断提到“逻辑”“逻辑推理”“合理推理”，另一方面是他们展现出来的确是无逻辑推理能，而且在表达时还不愿接受自己毫无逻辑的事实。1
许多所谓的推理由为持续的信念找论据组成，我们一贯如此。2
清醒地思考很少，但甚至是简单的思考都很少。大多数人大多时候根本就不是在思考，我们相信，我们感知，但我们并不思考。3
精神懈怠是人类最常见的特质之一。4
**indolence美 ['ɪndələns] n. 懒散，懒惰；无痛
trait英 [treɪt; treɪ] 美 [tret]n. 特性，特点；品质；少许
What is this activity that everyone claims is important but few people have mastered? Thinking is a general term used to cover numerous activities, from daydreaming to reflection and analysis. Here are just some of the synonyms listed in Roget’s Thesaurus for think:
Appreciate（鉴赏） consult（咨询） fancy（想象） reason（推理）
believe（认为） contemplate（沉思） imagine（想象） reflect（反思）
cerebrate（思考） deliberate（深思） meditate（冥想） ruminate（反刍）
cogitate（思考） digest（消化） muse（默想） speculate（推测）
conceive（设想） discuss（辩论） ponder（衡量） suppose（猜想）
consider（考虑） dream（梦想） realize（实现） weigh（权衡）
All of those are just the names that thinking goes under. They really don’t explain it. The fact is, after thousands of years of humans’ experiencing thought and talking and writing about thinking, it remains in many respects one of the great mysteries of our existence. Still, though much is yet to be learned, a great deal is already known.
译文：
这项每个人都认为很重要但是几乎没有人掌握的活动到底是什么？思考是一个用以覆盖无数活动的通用词语，从白日梦到反思和分析。下面是一些罗列在Roget’s Thesaurus这本同义词词典中关于思考的同义词。
所有的这些只是进行思考时的名称，它们并没有真正解释什么是思考。事实是，人类关于思考的体验、讨论并书写几千年后，在许多方面它仍是我们存在着的一个巨大的谜。尽管还有很多有待了解，但还是已经知道了不少。