How do assumptions relate to the process of crticial thinking?

Question

How do assumptions relate to the process of crticial thinking?

Answer 1

The easy part of critical thinking is to see whether the conclusions really do follow from the assumptions.  More difficult is to see how good the evidence is for the assumptions themselves. Most difficult of all is to be sure that you are not making any assumptions without realising it.

Advertisers, politicians, and clergymen all use language that predispose you to assume things without examining them, or even without being aware of them.

It is always a good idea to ask what kind of evidence would make you reject a conclusion.  That may help you realise the assumptions that have gone into making it.

Answer 2

Assumptions are the premises we use in deductive reasoning.  If the assumptions are incorrect, then any conclusions deduced from them are baseless.