{"id":38881,"date":"2025-10-16T18:16:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?p=38881"},"modified":"2025-10-16T18:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:47:14","slug":"ninety-nine-lessons-in-critical-thinking-a-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/ninety-nine-lessons-in-critical-thinking-a-book-review","title":{"rendered":"Ninety Nine Lessons in Critical Thinking: A Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prologue<\/h3>\n

If you were to pick up a paper that was not in your field, which section would you read first? Often it is indeed the Discussion section \u2013 what I would call \u201cthe journal scanner\u2019s way\u201d \u2013 because this way you will not only get to see results briefly summarized, but also the unique perspective and wisdom of the researcher! Hopefully this quick scan will shed light on the potential implications of the research without you having to read the whole paper! After all, the Discussion section is the only place where the author can now interpret the results and formulate new hypotheses.<\/p>\n

Another way to review a paper is the \u201cjournal club way\u201d \u2013 which is to first only look at the results, draw one\u2019s own conclusions, and then look at the discussion section to see what the authors POV (point of view) was.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is the \u201cpeer reviewer way\u201d: which would be to go through the entire manuscript page by page, line by line, to not only understand the author\u2019s results, but also assess the writing, the conclusions and the impact\/relevance of the study!<\/p>\n

Today, there is an enormous overload of information in science. The more the data, the more there will be opinions. After all, we were taught, as scientists to trust the facts.<\/p>\n

Book Review: Ninety-nine Lessons in Critical Thinking<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

I was fortunate to recently read a most insightful and thought-provoking book: Ninety-Nine Lessons in Critical Thinking<\/a>, by Neurologist Dr. Robert P. Friedland<\/a>. In this book, Dr. Friedland describes how the knowledge overload can be at odds with critical thinking. In the Preface, he writes that \u201cunlearning\u201d what you know will help develop your ability for critical thinking, where you ask yourself where that knowledge came from. There are many valuable lessons in Dr. Friedland\u2019s book that can be very helpful in the training and mentoring of medical doctors, scientists and other healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of the \u201clessons\u201d in doctor-patient interaction:<\/p>\n