Within every academic field and in one’s personal life, it is important to recognize when an individual is acting as a Un-Critical Thinker and is giving into societal biases and logical fallacies. Here is a list of the five main hallmarks of an Un-Critical Thinker. The un-virtues listed below are adapted from The Aspiring Thinkers Guide to Critical Thinking, which was written by Linda Paul and Richard Elder in 2009.
1. Innate egocentrism (“It’s true because I believe it”)
Is when an individual continually assumes that what they believe is true even though they have never questioned the basis for many of these beliefs.
2. Innate sociocentrism (“It’s true because we believe it)”
Is when someone assumes that the dominant beliefs in the groups to which they belong to is true even though they have never questioned the basis for many of these beliefs)
3. Innate Wish Fulfillment (“It’s true because I want to believe it”)
Occurs when an individual finds themselves believing, in, for example, accounts of behavior that put them in a positive rather than a negative light even though they have not seriously considered the evidence for the more negative account. They believe what “feels good,” what supports their other beliefs, what does not require them to change my thinking is any significant way, and what does not require them to admit they are wrong)
4. Innate Self-Validation (“It’s true because I have always believed it”)
In which case an individual feels a strong ego-attraction to beliefs that they held for a long time even though they have not seriously considered the evidence for the critique of these traditional beliefs).
5. innate selfishness (“It’s true because it is in my vested interest to believe it”)
When someone finds themselves gravitating to beliefs which if true would justify their gaining a personal advantage and not noticing the evidence or reasoning against such beliefs
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