Capstone: Analyze a Real-World Claim

Everything Comes Together

🔄 Quick Recall: Over seven lessons, you’ve built a complete critical thinking toolkit. From evaluating claims (Lesson 2) to detecting biases (Lesson 3), from spotting fallacies (Lesson 4) to assessing sources (Lesson 5), from decision frameworks (Lesson 6) to constructing arguments (Lesson 7). Now you apply the entire toolkit to a real-world challenge.

The Capstone Project

Your assignment: Choose a claim from the real world and analyze it using every tool from this course.

Choose one of these, or find your own:

A health claim from social media (a supplement, diet, or treatment)
A business claim from your workplace (a proposal, strategy, or projection)
A news headline that makes a strong assertion
A political claim about policy, economics, or social issues
A technology claim about AI, productivity, or innovation

Step 1: Clarify the Claim (5 minutes)

Here's a claim I want to analyze:
[paste the claim with its source]

Help me clarify it:
1. What precisely is being claimed?
2. What would need to be true for this claim
   to be valid?
3. What type of claim is this? (Factual, causal,
   value judgment, prediction)
4. What's the implicit conclusion the audience
   is expected to draw?

✅ Quick Check: Before diving into the analysis, can you recall the four questions of the claim evaluation framework from Lesson 2? (What’s claimed? What’s the evidence? Is there a gap? Who benefits?)

Step 2: Evaluate the Evidence (10 minutes)

Using the framework from Lesson 2:

For this claim: [your clarified claim]

Evaluate the evidence:
1. What evidence is provided? (List each piece)
2. Where does each piece fall on the evidence
   hierarchy? (Meta-analysis to anecdote)
3. Is there a gap between what the evidence shows
   and what's claimed?
4. What evidence is MISSING that would strengthen
   or weaken the claim?

Step 3: Check for Biases (5 minutes)

Using the tools from Lesson 3:

As I evaluate this claim, check my thinking
for biases:
1. Am I predisposed to agree or disagree? (Confirmation
   bias)
2. Was I influenced by the first number or fact I saw?
   (Anchoring)
3. Am I overweighting vivid examples? (Availability)
4. Am I accepting this because many others do?
   (Bandwagon)
5. What biases might the AUTHOR have?

Step 4: Identify Fallacies (5 minutes)

Using the tools from Lesson 4:

Analyze the argument supporting this claim for
logical fallacies:
[paste the supporting argument]

Check for: ad hominem, straw man, false dichotomy,
slippery slope, hasty generalization, appeal to
authority, appeal to emotion, red herring, circular
reasoning, and bandwagon.

Step 5: Assess the Source (5 minutes)

Using the CRAAP test from Lesson 5:

Evaluate the source of this claim using CRAAP:
- Currency: How recent?
- Relevance: Directly applicable?
- Authority: Qualified source?
- Accuracy: Verifiable and cited?
- Purpose: Inform, persuade, sell, or deceive?

Step 6: Form Your Conclusion (10 minutes)

Now synthesize everything into a well-reasoned position:

Based on my complete analysis:
- Claim: [the precise claim]
- Evidence strength: [rating and summary]
- Biases detected: [in the claim and in my evaluation]
- Fallacies found: [list]
- Source credibility: [rating]

Help me form a nuanced conclusion:
1. What's my position on this claim? (Accept, reject,
   or modify)
2. How confident am I? (1-10 with justification)
3. What assumptions am I making?
4. What would change my mind?
5. How would I explain my analysis to someone who
   holds the opposite view?

Course Summary

Here’s every tool from this course organized as a permanent reference:

Lesson	Key Tool	Core Question
1. Welcome	Critical thinking mindset	“What would change my mind?”
2. Claims	Claim evaluation framework	“What’s the gap between claim and evidence?”
3. Biases	Bias detection and pre-mortem	“What mental shortcuts am I taking?”
4. Fallacies	Fallacy identification	“Is the reasoning structurally valid?”
5. Sources	CRAAP test	“Is this source credible and transparent?”
6. Decisions	Weighted matrix and second-order thinking	“What happens after the first consequence?”
7. Arguments	Claim-Evidence-Warrant and steel-manning	“Would this convince a skeptical expert?”
8. Capstone	Full analysis pipeline	“Does my conclusion survive scrutiny?”

The Critical Thinking Habit

Critical thinking isn’t something you do once. It’s a habit you build over time. Here’s how to keep sharpening the skill:

Daily: When you encounter a surprising claim, pause for 30 seconds. Ask: “What’s the evidence? Who benefits? What would change my mind?”

Weekly: Pick one claim from the news and run a full evaluation. It takes five minutes and keeps your skills sharp.

For important decisions: Apply at least two decision frameworks. Compare their conclusions. Where they agree, you have strong evidence. Where they disagree, you need more information.

Key Takeaways

The complete critical thinking pipeline flows from clarification through evidence, biases, fallacies, source credibility, and conclusion
Good conclusions acknowledge evidence strength, remaining uncertainties, and what would change your mind
“What would change my mind?” is the most important question—if nothing could, your position is faith, not reason
Critical thinking is a daily practice, not a one-time course

Congratulations

You now have a systematic approach to evaluating claims, detecting biases, spotting fallacies, assessing sources, making decisions, and constructing arguments. These aren’t abstract academic skills. They’re practical tools that improve every decision you make—from evaluating health advice to choosing investments to navigating workplace disagreements.

The world isn’t getting simpler. Information isn’t getting more reliable. But you now have tools that match the complexity. Use them. Practice them. And when you’re unsure, let AI serve as your reasoning partner—challenging your assumptions, checking your logic, and revealing the blind spots that every human brain has.

Think well. Decide well. Act well.