affective: feelings, preferences, biases, values; emotional not intellectual

ambigious: uncertain, doubtful, could be understood in two or more ways, unclear, confusing

argument: reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to conclusion.
used to change an opinion or move your audience to action. It is not simply to describe, explain or compare a subject; arguments are part of the process of critical reasoning and thinking.

arrogant: overemphasis or exaggeration of one's worth or importance expressed in an overbearing, harsh or mean manner.

assumption: accept without verification or proof; to take something for granted or to believe something without proof

bias: a personal judgement or prejudice; selecting one answer over another based solely on belief and not of facts or some observable proof.

when you are influenced by assuming something that may or may not be true, or when you have a prejudice or discriminate against someone or something without any basis in fact or direct knowledge. A bias is anything which can distort the true nature of an event or observation.

caricature: an exaggerated statement intended to confuse;

cause and effect: the reason (cause) for certain consequences or results (effect) which can be proven, demonstrated and repeated; two events which occur together are not necessarily cause and effect, they could be a concidence or a correlation;

concept: an idea created in the mind generalized from particulars

consequences: what can follow “Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.”

correlation: seemingly but not necessarily related; a correlation might be proven to be a cause, but could be simply a coincidence

critic/critical/criticism - Careful judgement or judicious evaluation; express a reasoned opinion...a judgement of value, truth, righteousness, beauty or technique; EDUCATED (informed, researched & thought out) analysis, evaluation or appreciation; to see someting clearly in order to judge it fairly.

deductive reasoning:

takes a general truth and applies it to specific circumstances; logic that moves from the general to the specific; reasoning based on facts;  the process of reaching a conclusion that is guaranteed to follow, if the evidence provided is true and the reasoning used to reach the conclusion is correct.

The conclusion also must be based only on the evidence previously provided; it cannot contain new information about the subject

Created the scientific method based on empiricism (the search for knowledge through experiment and observation); reasoning based on the prior knowledge of a truth, hypothesis, or universal which leads an individual to acquire knowledge of a particular instance.

For example:
Premise - Bob knows that when water wets the ground, dry land turns into mud.

Premise - Bob also knows that it is not raining outside. 

Conclusion - When Bob sees Helen walk into the office with muddy shoes, he can deduce that Helen has walked through water even though he did not see her do so.  

dogmatism: blind acceptance without question some belief or idea; for example, strict religious obedience

egocentric: someone more concerned with themselves than with their society; self-centered or selfish; unable or unwilling to share

empathy: concern and understanding for another's situation or feelings

empathy: to understand, be aware of or be sensitive to the feelings, thoughts or experiences of others

euphemism: substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one, as in the use of "pass away" instead of "die. ; many terms referring to death, sex, crime, and bodily functions are euphemisms. Writers sometimes use euphemisms to deceive or not take responsibility for something they might write.

fallacy may unintentionally deceive; may be based upon incorrect or deliberately misleading information; usually an error in an otherwise logical argument; fraudulent is a deception made for personal gain; dishonest and an intended deception)

fallibility: the certainty that we will make errors and mistakes

gullibility: easily deceived or tricked; often because that someone is too trusting.

humble: not filled with pride (boy, am I good or what?) someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others

humility: the quality we have of being humble

hypocritical: to say or do one thing but to mean or do something different (tell your children not to smoke while smoking a cigarette)

hypothesis: an assumption made so as to test or prove its validity or truth

implication: possible significance or importance: a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred; formed from limited but significant information

inductive reasoning:

moves from observation of specific circumstances and makes a general conclusion; moving from particular facts to a general conclusion; sometimes called inductive logic, the process of reasoning in which the conclusion of an argument is very likely to be true, but not certain, given the premises; the process of thinking in which a conclusion is made based on observation; by examining facts or examples; Inferring general principles from specific examples; moving from specific facts to a general assumption or understanding:

For example:
Premise or observation - There are tire tracks in the snow and a smell of gasoline in the air; 

Conclusion - therefore, I conclude that a motorized wheeled vehicle has been here recently. 

inference: the act or process of drawing a conclusion based solely on what you already know. Suppose you see rain on your window - you can infer from that, quite trivially, that the sky is grey. Looking out the window would have yielded the same fact, but through a process of perception, not inference.

integrity: someone who is honest and consistently good and fair in character

irrelevant: not meaningful or useful to the issue being argued or discussed

odious: strongly disliked; hated; detested;

principle: basic truth, law or assumption such as "the principles of democracy." A principle is a basic rule of personal conduct that guides or influences your thoughts or actions.

pseudo: not genuine but often having the appearance of something; pseudoscience usually does not follow the scientific method and is generally not accepted by critically thinking scientists as valid.

rationality: consistent with or based on logic; good sense or sound judgment.

shibboleth: A belief widely held but which interferes with the ability to speak or think critically.

skeptic: someone who chooses to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true; someone who regularly doubts accepted beliefs.

sarcasm: often witty language used to convey insults or scorn such as sneering, jesting, or mocking a person, a situation or thing.

sociocentric: someone who is only concerned with their own society and no others

stereotype: a popularly held belief about a type of person or a group of people which does not take into account individual differences. (For example: “All Black persons can sing, dance and play sports exceptionally well.” “All Black Sea people have really large noses.”)

trivial: of little or no importance

unethical: bad moral standards; not accepted by professional moral standards