Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

大多數(shù)人所謂的推理就是找到論據(jù)去支持他們過去所相信的

Mental indolence is one of the commonest of human traits.

思維懶惰是人類最常有的特性中的一種

Feeling is useful in directing our attention to matters we should think about; it also can provide the enthusiasm and commitment necessary to complete arduous mental tasks. However, feeling is never a good substitute for thinking because it is notoriously unreliable.感覺是有用的，它指引我們的注意力放到我們所思考的東西上面；也提供了我們做麻煩腦力活動(dòng)所需要的熱情和保障。然而，感覺肯定不是思考的好的替代品，大家知道它真的很不可靠。

The focus of this book is on critical thinking. The essence of critical thinking is evaluation. Critical thinking, therefore, may be defined as the process by which we test claims and arguments and determine which have merit and which do not. In other words, critical thinking is a search for answers, a quest. Not surprisingly, one of the most important techniques used in critical thinking is asking probing questions. 本書聚焦于慎思，慎思的焦點(diǎn)在于評估。慎思，那么就可以定義為我們測試主張和觀點(diǎn)是否有益的過程。換句話說，慎思是一種對答案的探索，是一種追問。所以不用驚訝，慎思的一個(gè)最重要的技能就是問那些可以問到點(diǎn)子上的問題。

critical thinking involves the process of finding answers when they are not so readily available.慎思涉及到當(dāng)答案并不明顯的時(shí)候，找到答案的過程

critical thinking is a matter of habit.慎思是一種習(xí)慣

one characteristic of critical thinkers — skill in asking appropriate questions. Another is control of one's mental activities.一個(gè)慎思者的特征就是提出合適問題的技能。另一個(gè)就是能控制自己的思維活動(dòng)

The basic activities in critical thinking are investigation, interpretation, and judgment, in that order.慎思的基本動(dòng)程按順序包括調(diào)查，解釋和判斷。

For some reason, the very act of writing down one idea seems to generate additional ideas.由于某種原因，只是由于你寫下了一種想法就會(huì)產(chǎn)生附加的一些想法