Engineers Get Into Trouble Because We Often - -

• Jump to conclusions
• Fail to think through implications
• Loose track of our goal
• Are unrealistic
• Focus on the trivial
• Fail to notice contradictions
• Accept inaccurate information
• Ask vague questions
• Give vague answers
• Ask loaded questions
• Ask irrelevant questions
• Confuse questions of different types
• Answer questions we are not competent to answer
• Come to conclusions based on inaccurate or irrelevant information
• Ignore information that does not support our view
• Make inferences not justified by our experience
• Distort data and state it inaccurately
• Fail to notice the inference we make
• Come to unreasonable conclusions
• Fail to notice our assumptions
• Miss key ideas
• Use irrelevant ideas
• Form superficial concepts
• Misuse words
• Ignore relevant viewpoints
• Cannot see issues from points of view other than our own
• Are unaware of our prejudices
• Think narrowly
• Think imprecisely
• Think simplistically
• Think superficially
• Think ethnocentrically
• Think egocentrically
• Think irrationally
• Are poor communicators
• Have little insight into our own ignorance

From Learning the Art of Critical Thinking by Richard Paul and Linda Elder in Rotman Management Winter 2014