ATP 2-33.4, page 23

Analytic Skills decision, the critical thinker asks, “Do my selfish interests distort this thinking or is my decision fair to all concerned?” The fairness standard seeks to prevent egocentric thinking. As one’s ego enters the thought process, critical thinking becomes poisoned. APPLYING THE ELEMENTS AND STANDARDS 2-21. When an analyst exercises self-discipline and thoughtfully analyzes thinking (using the elements of thought) and then assesses the quality of the elements using intellectual standards, the result is a solid foundation for critical thinking. It is important to remember that critical thinking is a deliberate choice. Critical thinking requires self-discipline and a commitment to improve the skills that support this approach. While critical thinking cannot necessarily solve every problem an analyst may face (because some are so complex), it can ensure that every analyst is more effective and efficient while conducting the different intelligence tasks, especially those that are the most complicated or ambiguous. ESSENTIAL INTELLECTUAL TRAITS 2-22. Intellectual traits are the traits of mind and character necessary to support reasoning. Analysts should repeatedly apply and practice the elements of thought and intellectual standards to help develop intellectual traits. Intellectual traits include, but are not limited to— e@ Fair-mindedness. e = Intellectual humility. © Intellectual courage. e = Intellectual empathy. e = Intellectual integrity. Intellectual perseverance. @ Confidence in reason. e = Intellectual autonomy. 2-23. The following are brief descriptions of the essential intellectual traits, along with related questions that foster their development. Fair-Mindedness 2-24. A fair-minded thinker strives to treat every relevant viewpoint in an unbiased, unprejudiced way. Fair-mindedness entails an awareness that we tend to prejudge the views of others, placing them into favorable (agrees with us) and unfavorable (disagrees with us) categories. We tend to give less weight to a contrary view than to our own. This is especially true when we have selfish reasons for opposing such views. Fair-minded thinkers try to see the strengths and weaknesses of any reasoning they assess. Fair- mindedness entails a conscious effort to treat all viewpoints alike in spite of one’s own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings of one’s friends, company, community, or social organization. Questions that foster fair-mindedness include— e Am I considering how my behavior might make others feel? e Is my reason for doing that fair to everyone? Intellectual Humility 2-25. Intellectual humility is knowledge of ignorance, sensitivity to what you know and what you do not know. It means being aware of your biases, prejudices, self-deceptive tendencies and the limitations of your viewpoint. Questions that foster intellectual humility include— @ = What do I really know (about myself, about the situation, about another person, about what is going on in the world)? @ = To what extent do my prejudices or biases influence my thinking? 18 August 2014 ATP 2-33.4 2-7 Analytic Skills 18 August 2014 ATP 2-33.4 2-7 decision, the critical thinker asks, “Do my selfish interests distort this thinking or is my decision fair to all concerned?” The fairness standard seeks to prevent egocentric thinking. As one’s ego enters the thought process, critical thinking becomes poisoned. APPLYING THE ELEMENTS AND STANDARDS 2-21. When an analyst exercises self-discipline and thoughtfully analyzes thinking (using the elements of thought) and then assesses the quality of the elements using intellectual standards, the result is a solid foundation for critical thinking. It is important to remember that critical thinking is a deliberate choice. Critical thinking requires self-discipline and a commitment to improve the skills that support this approach. While critical thinking cannot necessarily solve every problem an analyst may face (because some are so complex), it can ensure that every analyst is more effective and efficient while conducting the different intelligence tasks, especially those that are the most complicated or ambiguous. ESSENTIAL INTELLECTUAL TRAITS 2-22. Intellectual traits are the traits of mind and character necessary to support reasoning. Analysts should repeatedly apply and practice the elements of thought and intellectual standards to help develop intellectual traits. Intellectual traits include, but are not limited to—  Fair-mindedness.  Intellectual humility.  Intellectual courage.  Intellectual empathy.  Intellectual integrity.  Intellectual perseverance.  Confidence in reason.  Intellectual autonomy. 2-23. The following are brief descriptions of the essential intellectual traits, along with related questions that foster their development. Fair-Mindedness 2-24. A fair-minded thinker strives to treat every relevant viewpoint in an unbiased, unprejudiced way. Fair-mindedness entails an awareness that we tend to prejudge the views of others, placing them into favorable (agrees with us) and unfavorable (disagrees with us) categories. We tend to give less weight to a contrary view than to our own. This is especially true when we have selfish reasons for opposing such views. Fair-minded thinkers try to see the strengths and weaknesses of any reasoning they assess. Fair- mindedness entails a conscious effort to treat all viewpoints alike in spite of one’s own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings of one’s friends, company, community, or social organization. Questions that foster fair-mindedness include—  Am I considering how my behavior might make others feel?  Is my reason for doing that fair to everyone? Intellectual Humility 2-25. Intellectual humility is knowledge of ignorance, sensitivity to what you know and what you do not know. It means being aware of your biases, prejudices, self-deceptive tendencies and the limitations of your viewpoint. Questions that foster intellectual humility include—  What do I really know (about myself, about the situation, about another person, about what is going on in the world)?  To what extent do my prejudices or biases influence my thinking?