Empowered, critical thinking

To think like a scientist is to be tentative and humble, assuming that we will make errors in thinking. Understanding this empowers us, in science and in everyday life, to make better decisions about what/how/when to question and believe.

Here are 6 basic mistakes we all tend to make, from Thomas Kida's (2006) fun and easy to read book, Don't Believe Everything You Think. Keep these in mind, remember that culture matters, and think better!

• "We tend to oversimplify our thinking."
  
• "We sometimes misperceive the world around us."
  
• "We [inappropriately] seek to confirm, not to question, our ideas."
  
• "We rarely appreciate the role of chance and coincidence in shaping events."
  
• "Our memories are often inaccurate."
• "We prefer stories to statistics."

Look here, here, and here for more on empowered thinking. Thanks to Eric Morris for the Kida reference.