The news article "Are smartphones making us dumber?" clearly demonstrates the eight critical thinking guidelines. It is evident that the author thought through the subject, and examined the evidence thoroughly. Since these guidelines are in use, the article makes a coherent and convincing argument.
The first guideline talks about how creative thinking begins with asking questions. It is important that we ask ourselves things so we can become more knowledgeable. This article explores if our advanced technology-specifically smartphones-is actually making us unintelligent and causing many other negative effects. It fulfills the first guideline by asking this question. The second principle discusses being precise about what you're studying. At the start, the author expounds upon the main question of "Are smartphones making us dumber" by going into the details of what will be examined for the rest of the article. It's not just our devices' impact on our intelligence that is being studied, other topics like health are introduced. Therefore, the author is defining his terms as well.…show more content… This is the third critical thinking guideline. It's hard for people to believe in something if the evidence supporting it is nonexistent or weak. There must be examples and proof to back up claims. In this article, the evidence is examined by listing numerous studies that prove smartphones lessen individuals performance. There is definitely ample evidence to reinforce the idea presented in the article. Furthermore, the author isn't working off of assumptions and biases. The evidence is not being ignored, rather, it is the base of the article. Emotional reasoning isn't being used either. The evidence is established by research, not emotions. For example, in the words of the author, "It is not just me and the research saying this. It is parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, and many other people I have spoken
