Responsible Thinking Guidelines  

• Seek as accurate an understanding of reality as possible, guarding against false beliefs.
• Question the claims of authorities and widely held beliefs.
• Do not become polarized or emotionally attached to any viewpoint.
• Subjective judgments may seem to be based on our own experience but may in fact be based on what we have been told or on our expectations.
• Always judge a course of action in comparison to its alternatives.
• Base opinions on measurements wherever possible.
• Use calculations rather than intuitive judgments when very large or very small quantities are involved.
• Vague claims are usually worthless.
• Never form a strong opinion after hearing only one side of a controversy.
• A person can be highly intelligent, sane, and honest and still be totally wrong.
• Correlation does not imply causation.
• Beware of shortcuts to the truth.