The Chapter List of “Method Matters”

My book “Method Matters: A Practical Guide to Achieving Your Goals Through Critical Thinking” is live on Amazon! I’d like to briefly spend some time outlining my book, starting with its list of chapters:

1. 1. Introduction
   2. Critical Thinking
   3. Observation
   4. Deductive Reasoning
   5. Inductive Reasoning
   6. Abductive Reasoning
   7. Goal-Based Reasoning
   8. Reasoning Over Time
   9. Methods of Creativity
   10. Blockers of Critical Thinking
   11. Emotion and Bias
   12. Critical Thinking as a Habit
   13. Driving Your Goals with Critical Thinking
   14. Case Study: John Snow
   15. Case Study: Quarter Tone Saxophone
   16. Conclusion

I start the book with a high-level introduction to critical thinking by using examples from my own experiences where I succeeded in applying it and where I could have done better. Then, the following chapters introduce the methods that drive critical thinking: making observations, reasoning with them, and drawing conclusions. The chapter Goal-Based Reasoning describes a form of reasoning I’ve created that facilitates the process of working through the planning process of completing your goals. I’ve dedicated multiple chapters to different kinds of reasoning because the ability to tailor them to your situation will enable you to work through them more effectively, but more importantly, so that you will be aware of how strong or weak the conclusions you draw from them will be.

Once you’ve learned the core critical thinking methods, the book introduces a few ways of thinking creatively that will enable you to think outside the box and solve problems in a way that strict logic cannot provide. I’ve included methods I’ve created and used myself for years. From there, the book outlines common things that block your ability to think critically, such as biases, pressure from other individuals, and past experiences. The chapter Emotion and Bias uses real-world examples to demonstrate how these blockers have interfered with individuals and groups of people, such as flat-earthers, and includes a curious example from the author of the famous Sherlock Holmes stories.

The book brings it all together in the chapter Driving Your Goals with Critical Thinking to teach you how to create, plan, and complete your goals taking full advantage of the critical thinking process. From there, it dedicates two chapters to studying real-life examples of projects that were completed thanks to these processes and assesses how they played a role in their success.