这周小孩生病，进度又拖慢了。上周的第二部分还欠着，这周的先发了。慢一点，但是不停下来。保持节奏和习惯。放弃完美。先做到，再做好。先完成，再完美。废话说得有点多了，呵呵。

Chapter 2 What Is Critical Thinking?

首先通过列举Arthur在学生时代被老师要求思考的课堂任务弄得抓耳挠腮，愁眉苦脸，不得其法。并且大部分人也有同样的状态引导出思维训练的缺乏是个普遍存在的常态。人们被要求思考却不知何为思考，以及擅长思维者所拥有的良好特质和不擅思维者缺乏的特质分别是什么。

many people may have simply told you to think without ever explaining what thinking is and what qualities a good thinker has that a poor thinker lacks.

思维认知和训练的缺导致了一些不良的后果： 

1 生活中的自相矛盾之处： 一方面人们坚持事物的“合理性”“逻辑性”，另一方面却又无法表现出自己的逻辑性，并且当他人表现出逻辑性的时候也拒绝接受它们

2 我们所谓的逻辑性也不过是单纯地反驳和争论对方的观点

3 逻辑清晰的思考非常难能可贵，可是连普通的思考也不多见。我们去相信和感觉，但是不思考。

4 思维的懒惰性是人类的特性之一

The most interesting and astounding contradiction in life is to me the constant insistence by nearly all people upon “logic,” “logical reasoning,”“sound reasoning,” on the one hand, and on the other their inability to display it, and their unwillingness to accept it when displayed by others. Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

Clear thinking is a very rare thing, but even just plain thinking is almost as rare. Most of us most of the time do not think at all. We believe and we feel, but we do not think.

Mental indolence is one of the commonest of human traits.

思考包括的行为很广，从白日梦到反思到分析都算。

思考的近义词也非常多

appreciate consult fancy reason

believe contemplate imagine reflect

cerebrate deliberate meditate ruminate

cogitate digest muse speculate

conceive discuss ponder suppose

consider dream realize weigh

这些词汇只是思维的名字和外衣。事实上人类对于思维的认知还是很有限的。思维仍然是人类中非常神秘的存在。

意识和大脑的关系

大脑负责思维和意识，但是大脑不等于思维和意识。思维和意识是可以独立存在并且具有主观能动性的。而这正是此书成立的理论基础。

the brain is necessary for thought, but it has not shown that the brain is sufficient for thought. In fact, many philosophers claim it can never show that. They argue that the mind and the brain are demonstrably different. Whereas the brain is a physical entity composed of matter and therefore subject to decay, the mind is a metaphysical entity

The late American philosopher William Barrett observed that “history is, fundamentally, the adventure of human consciousness

One especially important issue is whether the mind is passive, a blank slate on which experience writes, as John Locke held, or active, a vehicle by which we take the initiative and exercise our free will, as G. W. Leibnitz argued.

This book is based on the latter view.