Passage4

Questions 16 to 20 are based on thefollowing passage.

Everyone istrying to convince you of something And you spend a lot of time trying to decidewhat you should do, that is, trying to convince yourself. Thinking. criticallyis a defense against a world of too much information and too many people tryingto convince us.But it is more. Reasoning is what distinguishes us from beasts.Many of them can see better, can hear better, and are stronger. But they cannotplan, they cannot think through, they cannot discuss in the hopes ofunderstanding better.

A studentmajoring in anthropology(人类学) took the course ofcritical thinking.then he went over his term paper, analyzing it as we would inclass, and made some changes in it. He showed me the professor's comments,which were roughly "Beautifully reasoned, clear. A+." He said it wasthe first A+ he'd ever gotten. I can't promise that you'll get an A on all yourterm papers after taking this course. But you'll be able to comprehend betterwhat you're reading and write more clearly and convincingly

Once in a whileI'll tune into a sports talk show on the radio. All kinds of people call in. Someof them talk nonsense, but more often the comments are clear and well reasoned.The callers know the details, the facts, and make serious projections(推测) about what might be the best strategy based on past experienceThey comment on what caused a team to win or lose; they reason with great skilland reject bad arguments. I expect that you can too, at least on subjects youconsider important. What we hope to do in this course is hone(磨炼) that skill, sharpen your judgment, and show you that the methodsof evaluating reasoning apply to much in your life

In trying tounderstand how to reason well, we'll also study bad ways to convince, ways wewish to avoid, ways that misuse emotions or rely on deception. You could usethat knowledge to become a bad trial lawyer, but hope you will learn a love ofreasoning well, for it is not just ethical to reason well; it is more effectivein the long run. Critical thinking is part of the study of philosophy: the loveof wisdom. We might not reach the truth, but we can be searchers, lovers ofwisdom, and treat others as if they are, too.

 
For what purpose do we need to develop our ability to think critically?