Barriers To Critical Thinking
1.0 Barriers to Critical Thinking
Read the situation presented below and identify the barriers of critical thinking illustrated in each of the situations.
1. In a 1989 international study of 13-year-olds, Koreans finished first in mathematics and Americans finished last. Yet when asked whether they thought they were "good at mathematics," only 23 percent of Koreans said "yes," compared to 68 percent of Americans.
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2. Muhammad Ali [speaking in Zaire, Africa]: "There's no country as great as the smallest city in America. I mean [here in Zaire] you can't watch television. The water won't even run right. The toilets won't flush. The roads, the cars--there's nothing as great as America."
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3. Sexually active bisexual: “I’ll never get AIDS. I’m a very intuitive person. I would sense it if someone had something as degenerative as the AIDS virus.”
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4. Ed: My friend Dirk is a college freshman at a state university in upstate New York. He is blonde, loves surfing, and has a very laid-back personality.
Mary: I bet he’s from somewhere by the beach. California, perhaps.
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5. Liz: I can't believe I got a B- on this marketing paper. My friend Jill turned in this same paper in a different marketing class last semester, and she got an A.
Bob: Don't you realize it's wrong to plagiarize someone else's work?
Liz: That's your opinion. What's wrong for one person isn't necessarily wrong for another, and I say there's nothing wrong with plagiarism--as long as you don't get caught.
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Read the situation presented below and identify the barriers of critical thinking illustrated in each of the situations.
1. In a 1989 international study of 13-year-olds, Koreans finished first in mathematics and Americans finished last. Yet when asked whether they thought they were "good at mathematics," only 23 percent of Koreans said "yes," compared to 68 percent of Americans.
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2. Muhammad Ali [speaking in Zaire, Africa]: "There's no country as great as the smallest city in America. I mean [here in Zaire] you can't watch television. The water won't even run right. The toilets won't flush. The roads, the cars--there's nothing as great as America."
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3. Sexually active bisexual: “I’ll never get AIDS. I’m a very intuitive person. I would sense it if someone had something as degenerative as the AIDS virus.”
________________________________________________________________________
4. Ed: My friend Dirk is a college freshman at a state university in upstate New York. He is blonde, loves surfing, and has a very laid-back personality.
Mary: I bet he’s from somewhere by the beach. California, perhaps.
________________________________________________________________________
5. Liz: I can't believe I got a B- on this marketing paper. My friend Jill turned in this same paper in a different marketing class last semester, and she got an A.
Bob: Don't you realize it's wrong to plagiarize someone else's work?
Liz: That's your opinion. What's wrong for one person isn't necessarily wrong for another, and I say there's nothing wrong with plagiarism--as long as you don't get caught.
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