The last section that we studied delt with reason. The book defines reason as, “The power to think in such a way that we proceed from what we know to what we do not yet know.” Reason is used in everything we do, and especially in the matters of Theology and Philosophy. Since theology is “faith seeking understanding” it makes sense that we would use reason to come to conclusions about our Faith. And as for philosophy, or “love of wisdom”, it is clear that reason will be important to understanding philosophy, because everything we do not know, we need some amount of reason to understand it. We can learn basically three ways: Experience, Authority, and Reason. If we actually live out something, we learn experientially. If we believe what other people tell us, we learn through authority figures. However, we do not always reason correctly, thus the five common thinking errors exist. A non sequitur is when the premises that lead to a conclusion are correct, but the conclusion is not correct. False and vague premises mean that the conclusion is correct, but the steps that led to it were either not correct or not clear. Ad hominem is when instead of attacking a person’s argument, someone will attack the person instead. Begging the question means that to prove a point, the person uses a premise that implies the conclusion. Finally a red herring is when a person intentionally throws the argument off topic. These are the most important ideas that come from the topic of reason.

Three important ideas to remember

1. The Three Kinds of Knowledge
Experience - Experiential knowledge is knowledge that comes from personal experiences. We perceive experiential knowledge through the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell) and that information is stored in our brains.
Authority - Because we cannot experience everything (such as how molecules work, or what is in the universe) we believe in what other, more wise people in a subject, tell us is true. Authoritative knowledge is that which we learn from other, more knowing people.
Reason - Our minds are able to deduce things which we do not know by using the information we do know. This is called reason. By using prior knowledge (premises) and connecting them, we can come to conclusions.

These three kinds of knowledge are used by everyonoe every day. We all use our own experiences and other's experiences to gain knowledge. And we all undoubtedly used reason at some time in our day to gain knowledge.

2. The Five Steps to Critical Thinking

Know the Facts - to think intelligently, it is important that we know what we are talking about. Of course, we cannot know everything, but if we make an attempt to make ourselves informed of a topic, we can better reason and think critically.
The Principle of Contradiction - One thing cannot be two contradicting things at the same time. It is incorrect to think that, for example, “Jesus’ Resurrection was both a real event, and it never happened”. An event, such as this, must be either one or the other. There is no middle ground.
Define Your Terms - To be able to reason accurately, it is important to understand the words you use in discussion. Vague words such as “sincere” can sometimes confuse people as to what you are really saying.
Be Intellectually Humble - To be intellectually humble means to realize that there is always much more to learn. When you think too highly of your own intelligence, first that means that all of the work of famous thinkers were wrong, and second it could possible make you look foolish for being wrong.
Look For Different Prospective - Because there is always more than one way to see an issue, it is important to see other peoples’ views on things. To see an issue from another’s perspective allows you to better understand the issue, and maybe come to a conclusion.

3. The three different kinds of knowledge are experience, authority, and reason. Our "experiential knowledge" comes from encounters we have in our own lives, and from personal, first hand experience. It is perveived through our five senses, and in my mind, is the one that seems closest to us, and easiest for us to comprehend. Authority is another way to obtain knowledge, but we are often less open to this since it comes from our peers and elders, and we are often reluctant to admit that we are wrong. We are not open to revising our maps. The third kind of knowledge is reason. It is often hard to have trust in these fact we deduce since we do not know them for certain. We use our other previous knowledge to derive what we don't know.

One good question

Is my thinking falling victim to any of the five common thinking errors? If so how can I notice it and try to prevent it?

Quantum physics is awesome.
This image was taken from:
http://www.llnl.gov/str/June05/Aufderheide.html

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