Philosophy · Unit 3

Thinking Well

Reasons, evidence, and telling good ideas from bad

Before formal logic there is the ordinary skill of telling a good reason from a bad one, and most of that skill is habits rather than technique.

The unit covers giving reasons, weighing evidence, asking better questions, distinguishing good ideas from persuasive ones, and what an open mind is - which is not the same as believing anything.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 23
Questions: 120
Difficulty: 1-5

What this unit covers

Giving Reasons
Evidence
Good and Bad Ideas
Asking Good Questions
An Open Mind

Where this fits

Follows Big Questions. Leads into Reasoning and Logic.

Where people slip

An open mind is not an empty one. Being willing to change your view given good reasons is different from having no view, and the two get conflated constantly.

How the unit is structured

Thinking Well runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.

An Open Mind

Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. What does it mean to have an open mind?
- Being willing to consider other ideas and change your mind with good reasonscorrect
- Believing anything you hear
- Never listening to anyone
- Always thinking you are right
An open mind is ready to listen and to change with good reasons, without just believing everything.
True or falseLevel 1
2. An open-minded person is willing to change their mind if the evidence is strong.
Answer: True
Changing your mind for strong evidence is exactly what open-mindedness looks like.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
3. Which of these show an open mind? Choose all that apply.
- Asking for the other person's reasonscorrect
- Being ready to change with evidencecorrect
- Refusing to listen because you disagree
- Considering a view before judging itcorrect
Open minds ask, consider, and update, while refusing to listen shuts thinking down.
Odd one outLevel 2
4. Three of these show an open mind. Which one shows a CLOSED mind?
- Refusing to listen because you already disagreecorrect
- Listening to a different view
- Asking for the other side's reasons
- Being ready to change with evidence
Refusing to even listen is closed-minded, while the others stay open to new ideas.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
5. Open-mindedness does NOT mean which of these?
- Believing every claim without checkingcorrect
- Listening fairly to others
- Weighing the evidence
- Being willing to learn
Being open-minded still means checking claims, not accepting all of them blindly.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
6. Which habits keep your mind open and fair? Choose all that apply.
- Seeking the strongest version of other viewscorrect
- Checking if you might be biasedcorrect
- Reading only what agrees with you
- Being willing to update your viewcorrect
Steelmanning, checking bias, and updating keep thinking open, while an echo chamber closes it.

Asking Good Questions

Fill the blankLevel 1
7. A question that helps you understand what someone means is a ____ question.
- clarifyingcorrect
- sleeping
- jumping
- hidden
A clarifying question clears up what someone means.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
8. Why do we ask questions when we are thinking well?
- To understand better and check if something makes sensecorrect
- To confuse other people
- To waste time
- To win a shouting match
Good questions help us understand and test whether an idea really holds up.
Type the answerLevel 1
9. What kind of question asks someone to explain what they mean? A ____ question.
Answer: clarifying
A clarifying question asks a person to make their meaning clear.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
10. Which of these are good questions for thinking well? Choose all that apply.
- What is your evidence?correct
- What do you mean by that?correct
- Why should I even listen to you?
- How did you reach that conclusion?correct
Asking for meaning, evidence, and reasoning helps you think, while the rude question does not.
Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each question to what it helps you do.
Answer: What do you mean? = Understand the words; How do you know? = Check the evidence; Why do you think so? = Hear the reasons
Each question opens up a different part of someone's thinking.
True or falseLevel 2
12. Asking 'How do you know that?' is a good way to check a claim.
Answer: True
That question asks for the evidence behind a claim, which is a great way to check it.

Evidence

Fill the blankLevel 1
13. Facts you can check that back up an idea are called ____.
- evidencecorrect
- luck
- noise
- weather
Evidence is the checkable support behind an idea.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
14. What is evidence?
- Facts or observations that support a claimcorrect
- A guess with no support
- A strong feeling in your tummy
- A wish that it were true
Evidence is made of facts or things you can observe that back up what someone claims.
True or falseLevel 1
15. Muddy footprints leading inside can be evidence that someone walked in.
Answer: True
Footprints are something you can see and check, so they can serve as evidence.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
16. Which of these can count as evidence? Choose all that apply.
- Careful measurementscorrect
- A clear photo of what happenedcorrect
- Just a strong feeling
- A test you can repeatcorrect
Measurements, photos, and repeatable tests can be checked by others, while a feeling alone cannot.
Match the pairsLevel 2
17. Match each clue to what it could be evidence of.
Answer: Wet umbrella by the door = It rained outside; Crumbs on the plate = Someone ate the food; Muddy paw prints = A dog walked here
Each clue is something you can observe that points to what probably happened.
Type the answerLevel 2
18. What word means facts and observations that support a claim?
Answer: evidence
Evidence is the general word for the facts and observations that support a claim.

Giving Reasons

Fill the blankLevel 1
19. When you explain why you believe something, you are giving a ____.
- reasoncorrect
- secret
- snack
- color
A reason is the why behind a belief, so giving one is exactly what backs up your claim.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
20. In thinking well, what is a reason?
- Something that explains why you believe a claimcorrect
- A loud voice that wins the argument
- A person you are arguing with
- A lucky guess that turned out right
A reason is what you give to show why you believe a claim, so others can follow your thinking.
True or falseLevel 1
21. Saying 'because I said so' gives a strong reason.
Answer: False
Because I said so is not really a reason, since it does not explain why the claim is true.
Odd one outLevel 2
22. Three of these are real reasons to get enough sleep. Which one is NOT a reason?
- Because sleep is a wordcorrect
- It helps your body rest
- It helps you focus at school
- It keeps you healthy
The odd one just names the topic, while the others explain why sleep helps you.
Put in orderLevel 2
23. Put these steps of making a point in a sensible order, from first to last.
Answer: Say what you believe -> Give a reason -> Add some evidence -> State your conclusion
You start with your claim, support it with a reason and evidence, then wrap up with your conclusion.
Type the answerLevel 2
24. Fill in the connecting word: 'I brought an umbrella ____ the forecast said rain.'
Answer: because
The word because links your action to the reason for it.

Good and Bad Ideas

Multiple choiceLevel 1
25. How can you tell a strong idea from a weak one?
- It has good reasons and evidence behind itcorrect
- It is said the loudest
- It is simply the newest
- It uses the most words
Strength comes from good reasons and evidence, not from volume, newness, or word count.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
26. Which of these are signs of weak reasoning? Choose all that apply.
- Name-callingcorrect
- Ignoring the evidencecorrect
- Giving clear reasons
- Jumping to conclusionscorrect
Name-calling, ignoring evidence, and jumping to conclusions all weaken an argument, while giving clear reasons strengthens it.
Fill the blankLevel 2
27. An idea backed by good reasons and evidence is a ____ idea.
- strongcorrect
- sleepy
- purple
- silent
Good reasons and evidence are what make an idea strong.
Odd one outLevel 2
28. Three of these show weak reasoning. Which one shows GOOD reasoning?
- It offers clear reasons and checks the factscorrect
- It just repeats itself more loudly
- It attacks the person, not the point
- It ignores the evidence
Good reasoning offers reasons and checks facts, while the others avoid the real question.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
29. Sort each habit into Strong reasoning or Weak reasoning.
Answer: Gives clear evidence = Strong reasoning; Considers other views = Strong reasoning; Calls people names = Weak reasoning; Ignores the facts = Weak reasoning
Evidence and fairness make reasoning strong, while name-calling and ignoring facts make it weak.
True or falseLevel 2
30. Calling someone a name instead of answering their point is weak reasoning.
Answer: True
Attacking the person does nothing to show their point is wrong, so it is weak reasoning.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 9 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Choose all that apply
Fill the blank
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Thinking Well

120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Thinking Well

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

The Socratic Method: Learning by Asking Better QuestionsThe Socratic method tests ideas through careful questions. It can reveal hidden assumptions, sharpen definitions and turn disagreement into a search for clearer reasons.July 26, 2026 · 5 min read

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