Critical thinking and tools for better communication

Do you remember the time you participated in a discussion where you felt like you were talking to a wall? We have all experienced a situation where it seems so obvious that we are right, but the other person does not hear us, understands us and does not agree with us. Even if you have based your words on facts and logical explanations, the other person still insists on being right. Usually, this causes unpleasant feelings in both of you and often anxiety, will this be a hindrance to your friendship and further mutual communication?

This course is about thinking methods that allow us to be more confident that we are right. Communication techniques will help us to ensure that the other person listens to our opinion even if they do not agree with it. Thinking critically means adapting our views to reality. How to achieve this? By learning the basics of methods used in science and being aware of what errors we can make in our judgments. This will allow us to navigate even in topics in which we are not experts and will be able to catch both ourselves and others in thinking errors, which we will be able to correct. After we have understood how to think without making mistakes (or, at least, significantly reducing their possibility), we will turn to communication methods, in which we will look at the role of psychology and emotions in communication. We will learn practical methods to use to make our interlocutors lower their emotional shields, which are often raised if the other party does not agree with us.

In his time, Plutarch said: “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but wood to be scattered.”

Objective

To master critical thinking and communication techniques for presenting facts.

Benefits

• the ability to recognize fallacies in topics in which you are not an expert;

• the ability to present and analyze an argument;

• practical techniques for effective communication, especially when the interlocutor does not want to accept facts and logic;

• understanding the role of emotions in communication and the ability to work with emotional tensions during a conversation.

Working method

Theory and practical exercises both individually and in groups.

Target audience

All those who want to develop critical thinking and argumentation skills.

Program

1. Logical errors. How not to fall for them and not allow them yourself.

Logical errors arise from shortcomings in our thinking. We often do not notice them, because they are so common that they seem like a normal part of the discussion.

This section will include individual and group practical work on recognizing logical errors in both your own and other people's statements. You will learn ways to react to them.

2. How scientific thinking differs from everyday thinking.

It might seem that for everyday life we ​​can rely on intuition and leave more pedantic thinking methods to science, but scientific thinking is the best tool for understanding real situations. Knowing what our true circumstances are is useful even far beyond science.

3. Types of evidence and what is the hierarchy of their reliability.

We often hear the phrase “studies have shown that…”.

In this section, we will learn about the fact that studies tend to be different and what makes one study more or less reliable than another.

4. How to build a strong argument and how to present it so that it is easy to understand.

• An argument is a reasoned statement.

• Types of argument.

• How to build a good justification for an argument.

This section will involve group work in building and presenting arguments.

5. What is the role of synonyms in communication?

The same information can be presented in different ways. Even when trying to be objective, we (and others) often give an emotional shade to what we say without realizing it.

This section will include individual work on giving the text an emotional shade.

6. How to get the other person to lower their emotional barriers and listen.

• How to recognize the type of person we are talking to?

• How to present information in a way that it is perceived correctly?

• Emotional barriers during conversations and what we need to do to make the other person lower them and listen to our arguments.