Top Books on Critical Thinking: Enhance Decisions & Problem-Solving
In the context of an era that emphasizes innovation, we are familiar with concepts such as "thinking" and "critical thinking".
However, thinking is not innate. Sometimes, it requires relevant understanding and training.
Today's "critical thinking" book list focuses on multiple fields such as problems, solutions, decision-making, life, psychology, sociology, communication, and cross-culture.
The common feature of these books is that when we open them, those inherent and rusty thinking may be hit, thus generating some different ideas.
Critical thinking is a popular concept nowadays. I believe everyone has heard of it.
If you want to improve your thinking skills, the top books on critical thinking can help. These books teach you how to reason better, solve problems, and make smarter decisions.
They show you how to question ideas, spot biases, and think more clearly. Whether you're a student, working, or just want to get better at thinking, these books offer useful tips and strategies.
By reading them, you'll learn to handle challenges with confidence and think more deeply about everything in life. Start your journey to better thinking today!
What is Critical Thinking?
Some people think that it is to constantly criticize other people's views and question what others say. Isn't this just arguing? This needs to be clarified.
Critical thinking is to evaluate thinking through certain standards and then improve thinking.
It is reasonable and reflective thinking. It is both a thinking skill and a thinking tendency.
Critical thinking is generally established as one of the goals of education, especially higher education.
How do we learn and understand critical thinking? I recommend the following 24 books.
1. Critical Thinking By Brooke Noel Moore
Critical thinking is about making wise decisions and reaching the right conclusions. When we evaluate the reasoning that led to our conclusions, we engage in critical thinking.
People are not purely rational. They will inevitably be tired, depressed, angry, or driven by their own interests or emotions. At this time, the decisions they make may be wrong.
To make up for this deficiency, critical thinking is particularly necessary. The results of critical thinking may not always be correct, but it is important to trigger people to think clearly, discern credibility, weigh things objectively, and reasonably evaluate their own reasoning.
This book can help readers initially master the tools of critical thinking and cultivate the habit of critical thinking.
2. Learn to ask questions
When faced with questions, are you able to organize more solid evidence to support your views? Or do you just think that louder voices are reasonable?
When someone raises an opposing view, do you think that they are just picking on you and are deliberately making things difficult for you, or even getting annoyed by it?
We should not be hasty or blindly follow others but think carefully about the issues, not be swayed by emotions and unfounded rumors, try our best to understand the analytical reasoning methods of those whose values are contrary to ours and overcome the influence of prejudice on judgment.
Only in this way can we reach more correct and rational conclusions.
Learning to ask questions means not being easily influenced by other people's opinions. Have your thoughts, positions, arguments, evidence, and conclusions.
Whether at work or in life, asking more questions is beneficial to improving your critical thinking.
3. Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
The "Pyramid Principle" was invented by Barbara Minto in 1973. It introduces an effective method to clearly present ideas.
The Pyramid Principle helps people organize and express their thoughts in written form. It can be applied to the process of identifying and analyzing problems.
From a macro perspective, the Pyramid Principle can guide the entire process of writing, thinking, and analyzing problems.
4. Critical Thinking by Richard Paul and Linda Elder
If we embark on the challenge of becoming a critical thinker, we face a set of questions that have so far no answers.
This book is based on the details of these questions. This problem-centered narrative process provides the impetus for reshaping one's worldview.
Through this book, we will use some basic methods to identify which of our intellectual work needs to change our thinking;
We will need to regularly re-examine our ignorance; we will need to regularly practice to train our thinking; we will understand the long-term nature of wisdom development, social change, and personal growth and transformation.
The imperfections of our thinking system can be used to improve and enhance ourselves through a complete and scientific thinking model framework.
5. Simple Logic
"Simple Logic" is, of course, an entry-level book just by looking at the title. This book tells readers a profound logic in a language that is close to life, easy to understand, and interesting. Although it is not a formal textbook, it is a good practical guide.
The first half of the book focuses on some concepts, basic principles, and language of logic, while the second half focuses on non-logical thinking, such as the roots of non-logical thinking and the main forms of non-logical thinking. Each section is relatively independent, and you can choose the part you need to read when you read it.
6. Out of Control and Loving It by Lisa Bevere
In the Internet age where truth and lies are intertwined, knowledge and ideas are confused, and emotional venting obscures factual analysis, how can we avoid losing control of our cognition of the truth?
The book "Out of Control and Loving It" gives us some perspectives to think about. Especially as an advertiser, how do we deal with the massive amount of information? How do we view each crisis public relations event? I believe this book can give us some help.
7. Psychology: A Framework for Everyday Thinking by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn
"Lose 20 pounds in a month without dieting or exercising."
"You can teach a 3-month-old baby to talk, a surprising study finds."
"Studies show that our products can improve your self-esteem by 50%."
Do you believe the above statements? Are the things that seem to be taken for granted in life necessarily correct and scientific? Are your eyes often blinded by the illusions in life?
Starting from the psychology of daily life, "Psychology Changes Thinking" proposes six key principles of scientific thinking throughout the book.
For many psychological phenomena and viewpoints, "Clarifying the Facts" presents interesting and surprising facts, and "Identifying Illusions" proposes false, unfounded, but generally accepted viewpoints.
By analyzing fallacies, drawing scientific conclusions, and proposing highly operational methods, it helps readers establish scientific thinking that can separate the true from the false, and apply it to all aspects of daily life.
8. Cross-cultural psychology——Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (4th Edition) by Eric B. Shearley and David A. Levy
The author reviews the theories and research of cross-cultural psychology within the framework of critical thinking.
This book introduces the research field of cross-cultural psychology, discusses the basic research methods, and explores issues such as perception, consciousness, intelligence, human development, emotions, motivation, social cognition and interaction, and psychological disorders from a cross-cultural perspective.
The book also includes many of the latest research: race, religious identification, the psychological impact of globalization, the soul, cross-cultural communication, evolutionary anthropology, cultural archetypes, psychotherapy and counseling, social cognitive errors, intelligence, collectivism, cultural adjustment, suicide, and the stigma of mental illness.
9. Misunderstanding the Internet by James Curran, Natalie Fenton
The growth of the Internet has been spectacular. Today, there are 2 billion Internet users worldwide, about 30% of the world's population.
This is undoubtedly a new phenomenon, with great significance for the economic, political, and social life of contemporary countries.
A large number of popular and academic works on the Internet have advocated that its potential will be fundamentally re-understood, especially in the mid-1990s when many commentators were in awe of the Internet.
Although the awe and wonder may have passed, the technocentrism behind it - the belief that technology determines outcomes - lingers, and with it comes a misunderstanding of the Internet - a failure to understand it in a socio-economic and political context.
This book briefly discusses the impact of the Internet on society from the perspectives of history, sociology, politics, and economics.
The book is divided into three parts: the first part talks about the history of the Internet and gives an overview of its social status; the second part focuses on the regulation of the Internet and the Internet economy; the third part examines its political and cultural impact.
10. Right and Wrong Thinking and Their Results by Alan Martin Crane
This book explores how to think actively and positively; why people have wrong thinking patterns, such as the influence of the subconscious mind; proposes three levels of positive thinking training, namely how to think, how to stop thinking about a specific event, and how to replace the original thought with another thought; and gives several ways to change thinking habits, such as trying to find kindness, looking for the root of the problem from the easy level and the subjective level, etc.
11. Big History: Between Nothing and Everything by David Christian
"Big History: Between Nothingness and Everything" talks about the history of the universe over 13 billion years, and the focus is of course the history of life evolution on Earth over billions of years. The focus of the focus is naturally the history of human civilization.
The reason why I recommend this book is because of its interdisciplinary nature. It spans multiple disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, sociology, economics, anthropology, etc. It is very comprehensive and can help people establish a systematic and complete worldview.
Bill Gates also donated a large sum of money to this big history education project and established free online open courses. Everyone can take courses on the website www.bighistoryproject.com, and the learning experience is very good.
12. Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science by Richard DeWitt
"World View" is an introductory textbook on the history and philosophy of science. I like to call this book a love triangle between history, science, and philosophy.
It tells us about the transformation of the human worldview from Aristotle's teleology to Newton's mechanism and finally discusses the new changes brought to the mechanistic worldview by relativity, quantum mechanics, and evolution.
After reading this book, you will not worship science like a fanatical believer but will be a calm thinker who accurately understands the important position of science in our worldview.
13. Statistics: The Conceptual Approach by Gudmund R. Iversen, Mary Gergen
Statistics is a statistics textbook that is very suitable for liberal arts students or MBAs. Compared with other statistics textbooks, it focuses on a clear understanding of basic concepts and methods and puts the derivation and calculation of mathematical formulas in a secondary position.
I recommend this book mainly for the importance of statistics in critical thinking. If you find a better statistics book on the market, that's great. There are also many open video courses on statistics on the Internet, which are also worth learning.
14. Understanding Beliefs by Nils Nilsson
Understanding Beliefs, written by an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, is a critical thinking training manual written by him from the perspective of computer science. It is concise and worth recommending.
Even for programmers who already have very rigorous thinking, it is worthwhile to take the time to read this thin little book.
15. How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
"Mind Detective", author Steven Pinker is not only a first-class psychologist and linguist in the ivory tower, but also a public intellectual outside the ivory tower.
Each of his works is worth recommending, and the one I chose here is a book about the working mechanism of the human mind.
To be honest, this book is so thick that I wanted to use an introductory psychology textbook instead. But the narrative and commentary style of this book and the interestingness between the lines made me reluctant to give it up.
After reading this book, you can more or less understand how the mind works. What is amazing is that it is this kind of mind that allows Pinker to write such excellent works, and it is this kind of mind that allows you to understand his works.
16. The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills
The Sociological Imagination. Friends in the sociology community all know how good this book is. It is not an introduction to sociological thought or sociological methods, but rather a merciless rant and heartfelt advocacy by the author Mills.
In Mills' own words, sociological imagination can help us better understand history, understand the times, understand the macro-society, understand the micro-individual daily experiences, understand our own inner state, and understand public issues that deserve everyone's concern.
With sociological imagination, you can reflect on the rules of the social game, and even change them, instead of being played by them unconsciously. So, sociological imagination is something you deserve.
17. The Economic Way of Thinking by Paul Heyne
"Economic Way of Thinking". Friends in the economics education field all know how good this book is. It is a very good general economics textbook. If you only plan to read one economics book in your life, this is the right choice.
However, once you understand this book, you will probably be attracted by the economic way of thinking and will want to read more economic articles and books. In fact, economics is a popular subject today. I don’t need to emphasize that everyone wants to know some common sense about economics.
But I still want to recommend this book, because the common sense of economics you see from other places may be garbage ideas disguised as economics, while this book is a systematic university textbook, from which you can gain a complete knowledge system rather than fragmentary knowledge.
18. Teaching for Critical Thinking by Stephen D. Brookfield
"Teaching for Critical Thinking", the author is an old professor who has been engaged in teaching critical thinking for decades. He records his understanding of critical thinking, the difficulties he encountered in teaching, and the valuable experience he has accumulated in this book without reservation.
Its target readers are teachers who are engaged in critical thinking education, but students can also benefit from reading it.
It can help students understand what kind of teachers are good teachers who teach critical thinking, and also help students understand why critical thinking education is so difficult and how teachers can overcome those difficulties. This book has great inspirational value for my own critical thinking teaching.
19. Metaphors We Live By - by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson
"Metaphors We Live By". I originally wanted to choose a textbook on cognitive linguistics, but then I thought about it and changed to the original work by Lakoff and Johnson.
To put it simply, this book can make you understand how much influence "metaphor" has on our thinking, and how easy it is to underestimate or even ignore this influence.
Some scholars estimate that at least 70% of the language used in daily communication contains metaphors. A metaphor is a systematic analogy between two conceptual domains and is the thinking framework in which we live.
When we ignore the existence of the stage background, we will be trapped by unreliable subtle metaphors and fall into hidden thinking traps, unable to extricate ourselves.
All we can do is replace worse metaphors with better ones. But how can we do that if we don’t understand metaphors? So this book is worth reading carefully and reflecting on.
20. Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett
"Intuition pumps and other tools for thinking", literally translated as "Intuition pumps and other thinking tools". The author Daniel Dennett is the contemporary philosopher who has had the greatest influence on me.
Dennett himself said that when you mix the knowledge of Quine and Ryle and cognitive science together, you get his ideas.
This book can be regarded as a series of his thoughts. The process of reading this book can be compared to the process of downloading and installing the thoughts of philosophers such as Dennett, Quine, Ryle, and many scientists into your mind.
It is hard not to admire Dennett's knowledge, both in breadth and depth. Even if his conclusions are not in line with your intuition, he can still convince you with his powerful logical analysis and narrative skills.
21. The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins
This concise introduction to philosophy is easy to understand and popular without losing professional standards. It is very suitable for non-philosophy readers. It is not a boring philosophical narrative history, nor is it a simple philosophical argument.
Instead, it explains the philosophical issues through many vivid examples. As the issues gradually unfold, it intersperses the content of the history of philosophy, step by step, and leads readers into the palace of philosophy little by little, allowing them to enjoy the fun of thinking.
Among the many introductory books on philosophy, if you can only choose one, Solomon's book should be your first choice.
22. Reason in the Balance: An Inquiry Approach to Critical Thinking by Sharon Bailin, Mark Battersby
If you think reading critical thinking books is always too boring, then read this one. Each chapter of this book is based on a dialogue scene with characters and conflicts.
23. Critical Thinking and Communication: The Use of Reason in Argument by Edward Inch, Kristen Tudor
This book explores the concept, construction, and presentation of argumentation, which helps to understand the core of critical thinking, "argumentation".
24. Argumentation is a Science
"Argumentation is a Science" is an entry-level book. It starts with some basic principles, and then divides the important part of critical thinking - argumentation into example argumentation, analogy argumentation, appeal to authority argumentation, causal argumentation, deductive argumentation, and other parts, and explains them in detail.
The book lists many easy-to-understand examples to help us understand the concepts. At the end of the book, it also lists many common fallacies to help everyone distinguish them. It is very easy to read for beginners.
Conclusion
The above books may seem boring at first reading, but improving thinking requires conscious investment and learning.
Only by being good at thinking can we make continuous progress, and upgrading thinking can make people better understand the world. You will gain different things after reading them.
Note that this list needs to be completed. It only covers the books I have read carefully or read roughly. Books that I have not read at all are not included in this list.
The books are not ranked in order of superiority or inferiority but are arranged in the order I took them out of the bookshelf.
As you can see, the books on critical thinking that I have not bought may be very good, but they are not on this list.
Some of the books I've bought on critical thinking aren't good enough, so they're just on my bookshelf and not on this list.
Critical Thinking Booklists for:
Here are curated booklists for various categories of critical thinking literature.
Best-Selling
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills by Michael Kallet
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era by Daniel J. Levitin
Good Thinking: Why Flawed Logic Puts Us All at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World by David Robert Grimes
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston
For Beginners
Wait, What?: And Life's Other Essential Questions by James E. Ryan
Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills by Michael Kallet
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking by M. Neil Browne & Stuart M. Keeley
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird
Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide by Jennifer Wilson
The Critical Thinking Toolkit by Dr. Randy K. Smith
For University Students
Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success by Louis E. Newman
The Elements of Reasoning by Ronald Munson and Andrew Black
Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life by Richard Paul and Linda Elder
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide by Jennifer Wilson
The Critical Thinking Toolkit by Dr. Randy K. Smith
The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools by Richard Paul and Linda Elder
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
For Adults
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era by Daniel J. Levitin
Good Thinking: Why Flawed Logic Puts Us All at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World by David Robert Grimes
Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results by Shane Parrish
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird
A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston
For Students
Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success by Louis E. Newman
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking by M. Neil Browne & Stuart M. Keeley
The Elements of Reasoning by Ronald Munson and Andrew Black
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide by Jennifer Wilson
The Critical Thinking Toolkit by Dr. Randy K. Smith
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills by Michael Kallet
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird
For Kids
Think Like a Detective: A Kid's Guide to Critical Thinking by David Pakman
The Fallacy Detective: 38 Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn
The Critical Thinking Toolkit for Kids by Dr. Randy K. Smith
A Kid's Guide to Critical Thinking by David A. Adler
The Art of Thinking Clearly for Kids by Rolf Dobelli
The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy by Grady Klein and Sarah Hutt
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie
