Lawrence Krauss on How to Develop Your Critical Thinking Skills | Big Think
Lawrence Krauss on How to Develop Your Critical Thinking Skills
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Strange answers aren’t inherently wrong, and satisfying answers aren’t inherently right, says Lawrence Krauss in this critical thinking crash course. The astrophysicist explains how principles of scientific skepticism can be applied beyond the laboratory; it can be a filter for the nonsense and misinformation we encounter each and every day. Here, he establishes a handful of core questions that critical thinkers ask themselves, which can be used to challenge your misconceptions and sense of comfort, question inconsistency, and think past your brain’s evolved biases. Piece by piece, you can systematically remove nonsense from your life. Lawrence Krauss’ most recent book is The Greatest Story Ever Told — So Far: Why Are We Here?
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LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS:
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, and the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism, science education, and the science of morality. Krauss is one of the few living physicists referred to by Scientific American as a “public intellectual”, and he is the only physicist to have received awards from all three major U.S. physics societies: the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Institute of Physics.
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TRANSCRIPT:
LAWRENCE KRAUSS: One of my favorite quotes, which I’ve used in my writing, comes from the former publisher of The New York Times who said, “I’d like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out.” And that’s the key point. We have to skeptically assess the information we receive, we can’t be gullible because when we get a lot of information it’s absolutely certain that some of that information is wrong and so we have to always filter what we get and we have to ask ourselves the following question: how open does my brain have to be to accept that information? Does it have to fall out? And by that I mean, when someone tells you something you have to ask: is this consistent with my experience? Is it consistent with the experience of other people around me? And if it isn’t then probably there’s a good reason to be skeptical about it—it’s probably wrong. If it makes predictions that also appear to be in disagreement with things that you observe around you, you should question it. And so we should never take anything on faith. That’s really the mantra of science, if you want, that faith is the enemy of science. We often talk about a loss of faith in the world today; you don’t lose anything by losing faith. What you gain is reality.
And so skepticism plays a key role in science simply because we also are hardwired to want to believe, we’re hardwired to want to find reasons for things. In the savanna in Africa, the trees could be rustling and you could choose to say, ‘Well there’s no reason for that,’ or, ‘Maybe it’s due to a lion.’ And those individuals who thought there might be no reason never lived long enough to survive to procreate, and so it’s not too surprising we want to find explanations for everything and we create them if we need to, to satisfy ourselves, because we need to make sense of the world around us. And what we have to understand is, what makes sense to the universe is not the same as what makes sense to us and we can’t impose our beliefs on the universe. And the way we get around that inherent bias is by constantly questioning both ourselves and all the information we receive from others. That’s what we do in science and it works beautifully in the real world as well.
When you’re presented with questions or answers about any problem there are a few questions you can ask yourself, that you should ask yourself right away. First of all, you can ask yourself, ‘Do I like this answer?’ And if you do you should be suspicious because you’re much more likely to accept something that appeals to you whether it’s right or not. So if you inherently like something in some sense that’s a reason to be almost more suspicious of it, if you’re a scientist. But then you can ask the question, when you’re presented with information, is that information consistent with what I know already based on data I’ve taken about the world around me? And by data, it’s not just scientists. If you’re a child—all children do this—you put your hand in a flame, okay, …
For the full transcript, check out https://bigthink.com/videos/how-to-filter-nonsense-from-your-newsfeed-and-your-life
@bigthink
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
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@CaelestisSulfurVenator
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
The pacing of this was perfect!
@GeorgieFrio
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
The last sentence smashed everything I was gaining from this video.
@David_K_pi
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Thanks! Great advice.
@coleenbrebnor9705
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen", ………..Paul
@polokegomampane2848
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Thanks LK!
@janicebeams2389
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
You cannot think critically if you do not have an absolute foundation for believing anything. You must first have faith in the eyewitness testimony of the observers before you can begin to judge anything at all. Even science requires faith in the observers. Are you going to believe the ancient observers or the modern observers who reject all past knowledge? Just because something is old doesn't mean it is not true. Lots of true things have happened in the past and we do not have absolute tools for establishing all of the events of history as we are limited by time. Modern science denies most of true history. Modern science is fallible and changes with the wind. It has no absolute criteria which can judge history or origins of the cosmos. Modern science cannot prove the world is billions of years old. All the evidence suggests the cosmos is very young and was brought into existence with instant events limited to a very short span of time. Most people who follow modern science are just practicing a modern natural religion that is supported by eyewitnesses and supporting doctrine that cannot be verified. Modern science is purely sustained by faith alone as most if not all people cannot verify the claims made by the eyewitnesses.
@qake2021
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
👍👍👍🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻👌😁✌
@AntonioSilva-ld4dq
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
critical thinking, i wish to turn it off to be happier. Im constantly annoying friends with critics. And is not sign of been intelligent. There is a chapter in house md tv series where a delivery guy gets sick and house discovers he is or was in fact a young genius in physics and that what was making it ill was a combination of a drug with vodka to make himself dumb.He took it in daily basis. To be Less clever. Because his girlfriend was a normal girl and to be with her he cant be intelligent or would not work the relationship. Critical thinking is fine is true helps you see the true among all the information we get some are false assumptions, but we dont do it all the time not in conversations to make them a competition to who is right. We would be left with no friends. Is true important? is relevant?.
As this man says the mind open is key to be connected and some amount of critical thinking also but i would say not too much. I can't handle the true.
@maras3000
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Question whther something matches my previous beliefs or those of others can be problematic. Especially if you're in some self-inforcing social bubble.
@krishnakanukollu7695
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Sceptic remains a sceptic as long as he doesn't meet a saint ? Once he meets a saint and spends some time with Him, the sceptic sees no logic in logic, sees no rationality in rationality.
@cache780
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
That's why so many rely on religion and god/s, because they do not wish to die, all their memories and emotions to be lost – the fear of losing everything makes someone feel helpless, until you bring the promise of eternal life into play.
It's an excellent trap that many religions use to gain followers.
@josegaleano1530
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Sometimes I wonder if this religious ideas which are negative and nonsense are parasites in our brains people tends to believe on something Superior but we don't have nobody in front of us we are accidental we are the product of nation and if we come from this product there is no need for an intelligent design because this intelligent have no proof of any accidental or natural formation it is just an idea that it was invented by men to control political and lucrative but makes no sense of the invisible it's like building a castle without foundation you have to prove the foundation to demonstrate the castle
@Grgrrr
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
I wonder how much more time will elapse before critical thinking gets labeled as racist. Or has that already happened?
@dadikkedude
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
I think why people miss something spiritual is because it's useless being over critical of yourself and it turns into some self loathing.
@stephenjohnhughes1001
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
THE UNIVERSE IS A UNICORNS FART CLOUD BEFORE THE RED SHIFT
@CommanderLVJ1
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
(To the best of my memory it wasn’t so…) Why exactly is this sort of stuff not fought in school!?.
@brucesims3228
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
I liked the video but more so for the fact that there are so few helpful resources in coaching folks to improve Critical Thinking. What makes this huge is that our culture has reached a point where Knowing (Cognition) and Believing (Faith) are viewed as mutually exclusive. The only effective way to appreciate the relationship between these aspects of our Humanity……as well as Behavior (Action) and Feelings (Emotion) is to continually study ourselves with naked honesty. In this way having some coaching is not altogether a bad thing.
@ajayshinde8001
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Refer to Jiddu Krishnamurti's teaching for deeper understanding of what this speaker is talking about in much more deeper sense.
@vidsworthwatch6396
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
What is this bullshit honestly
@Cusnpbzn
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Of course, faith is an integral part of science, as long as it is temporary and changeable.
@mateway5907
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Talks like a guy who's never done psychedelics.
@christopherschneider2663
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Now is really not the time to tell people if it isn't your own experience it might not be true. Not unless you work in a Covid-19 ward or drive an ambulance.
@stevenjbeto
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
The gift Dr. Kraus imparts in this video is the closest thing to real and usable knowledge that I have come across in a long while.
@ollanwebb4868
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
I guess my brain didn't stop at nice because most things suck.
@bemersonbakebarmen
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Well if Peterson ve Harris told me somthing is that truth is pragmatic. You belive what helps you have a good life, and thats your personal truth.
Facts care about feelings…
Hahaha, no Im joking thats just self help bs. Hurray for Science and the Questioning of Self Evident Meanings
@originalmikestinson
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
You can convince yourself of anything if you try hard enough.
@DanielaFendulova
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
".. You don't loose anything when you loose faith, what u gain is reality." love that!
@nicholascurran1734
August 30, 2025 at 6:43 pm
Lawrence Krauss- Reality is a misnomer. What is real, as far as what we sense, has little to do with any universal truths. Survival didn't guide us to see truth. So by losing faith and gaining reality, are we then gaining falsity? Or gaining non-truths?
Comments are closed.