Cultivating critical thinking. Encouraging open inquiry.
It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.
The Reasoning Commons wants more people to think critically, ask open questions and bring a scientific temper to what they read and hear. We see science as part of society, something people make, test and argue over, and not as a world apart from it. Our main activity is an annual essay competition built on that idea. Entries are judged on how well they reason, whatever conclusion they reach.
Critical thinking is different from cleverness, and it is not the same as disagreeing with everything. It means letting evidence decide what you believe, even when you would prefer to believe something else. When the reasons for a conclusion are strong, you can hold it with confidence. When they are weak, you hold it loosely. When better reasons come along, you change your mind.
Seen this way, science is less a body of facts to memorise than something people do. A claim is tested, then tested again, and it stays open to revision. An idea counts as scientific because it could still be shown to be wrong, whatever its source and however firmly people hold it.
Much of it comes down to one question. How do we know? Before accepting a claim, we can ask what evidence supports it, whether anyone independent has checked it, what other explanations might fit, and what would show it to be wrong. These questions are just as useful outside classrooms and laboratories. Every day we come across statistics, headlines, expert opinions, rumours and arguments, and telling a good reason from a weak one matters to citizens as much as it does to students.
Every year the competition sets one essay topic and asks entrants to work through it with evidence and argument. They can take any position they like. What the judges assess is how well they reason, and not which side they choose.
Total prize money: ₹10,000