Associate Level Material

Appendix D

Assumptions and Fallacies

Write a 150- to 200-word response to each of the following questions:

• What are assumptions? How do you think assumptions might interfere with critical thinking? What might you do to avoid making assumptions in your thinking?

According to the text and assumption is “to assume is to take something for granted, to expect that things will be a certain way because they have been that way in the past or because you want them to be that way.” Critical thinking is all about doing the research, asking questions, and making sure all of your facts are correct. You must also make sure that everyone is on the same page with you and understands what you are talking about. When you assume, you are basically bypassing all of the critical thinking steps. Assumptions can interfere with critical thinking by assuming that everyone agrees with you and is familiar with your topic. When you assume you can embarrass yourself a great deal and when working at a job, making assumptions can hinder your work performance. In order to avoid making assumptions, you must realize the others will have their own ideas and may not agree with you on everything. If you want your conclusion to be clear you must construct it to be that way and not just assume that people will automatically understand you and will automatically follow you. You may have to do some persuasion on your part.

• What are fallacies? How are fallacies used in written, oral, and visual arguments? What might you do to avoid fallacies in your thinking?

According to Paul and Elder (2008), A fallacy is, “deception, guile, trickery, aptness to mislead, and unreliability.” A fallacy is a deceptive or misleading thought. You can also say that a fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes an argument invalid. Fallacies are used in written, oral,