Of course, we have our hunches about whats most likely to be true. this is antiquated by its nature, a book that presumes that its pure thinking of facts and logic and reason is the supreme way to humor matters of superstition and faith, or even other truths. Psyche is a digital magazine from Aeon that illuminates the human condition through psychology, philosophy and the arts. Its an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence. Not a bad book; I wish I had read it when I was a young man, it could have possibly made me if not smarter more systematic. In which case, as we saw under point 2 above, the fit is not strong evidence of such abilities. The authors focus on types of logical arguments and proofs, making How to Think about Weird Things a versatile supplement for logic, critical thinking . By explaining what distinguishes knowledge from opinion, science from pseudoscience, and evidence from hearsay, How to Think about Weird Thingshelps the reader develop the skills needed to tell the true from the false and the reasonable from the unreasonable. Get help and learn more about the design. I've often wondered how my life might have been different if I had been given a good course in critical thinking skills in high school or college. Unfortunately, it's not entirely perfect; it's full of technical glitches, storage issues, and not a little bit of confusion. It has to answer questions to obtain explanations of the unknown. They can fake anything. Sometimes, belief in weird things is pretty harmless. I ended up asking my prof if there were better books out there that discussed critical thinking. Shermer's conclusion is very simple. Its certainly not confirmed by the available evidence about dogs. While most scientists are sceptical about psychic abilities, what of the thousands of reports from people who claim to have received insights from psychics who could only have known what they did if they really do have some sort of psychic gift? web pages Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2020, Its a good book just was in bad condition when I recieved it.I hope it isnt marked against me as a good result of the way it look, Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2021, Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2020, Using this book for my critical thinking class. Consequently, weve evolved to err on the side of overdetection often seeing agency where there is none. But suppose Fred adds that, during her visit, Alice flew around the room by flapping her arms. This, I think, is a clever way for Schick and Vaughn to entangle good reasoning with evidence and data: its not enough to think clearly, you should try to produce physical evidence for your claims as well. MisterHoppy. Great book on understanding our biases and the brain washing we do to ourselves. People often share their beliefs on almost any topic, but they seldom give good reasons for having their beliefs. Nearby, a sinister secret lurks in the depths of a government lab. No matter how much evidence is presented to Dave, its always possible for him to cook up another explanation. The following principle appears correct (it captures part of what confirmation theorists call the Bayes factor; for more on Bayesian approaches to assessing evidence, see the link at the end): Heres a simple illustration. So now consider our report of the UFO hanging over the nuclear power construction site. Other Editions of How to Think about Weird Things How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age - 7th edition Product details Format Paperback | 352 pages Dimensions 152 x 229 x 15mm | 447g Whats most likely to be true: that there really was something extraordinary hanging over the power plant, or that the various eyewitnesses had somehow been deceived? Very useful book for understanding sound scientific and logical principles for evaluating information. You get what you expect from people. Almost everyone agrees that, when it comes to black holes, scientists are the relevant experts, and scientific investigation is the right way to go about establishing whether or not they exist. This is an excellent book that explains critical thinking, logical fallacies and argumentation / logic while at the same time demonstrating how to apply them to pseudoscience and current topics in the headlines. . Thats particularly the case for beliefs in which we have invested a great deal emotionally, socially and/or financially. This is a really fun read, and will make you think twice about all the strange stories you may hear. Format: Paperback. I wish I was given a book like this when I was in middle school. . A cow, for example, could logically jump over the moonthereis nothing in logic that prevents thisbut there are things that we have discovered about the nature of the physical world that make this impossible (for one, a cows hind musclesdo not generate enough force to escape Earths gravity). Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. And, of course, many trust in alternative medicines such as homeopathy, the effectiveness of which seems to run contrary to our scientific understanding of how the world actually works. The moral is: showing that your theory can be made to fit be consistent with the evidence is not the same thing as showing your theory is confirmed by the evidence. Thats to be expected, even if were not psychic. Maybe ideasneednt hold together too tightly or coherently for them to be useful to us. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age. Of course, theres a mountain of evidence against the belief. Discover your study material at Stuvia. It is quite extensive and covers many areas such as: doctor evidence, personal experience, placebo, how to spot quack cures, case studies, animal studies, clinical trials, etc. I got more from class notes at lectures than this book. I was hoping for a serious look into critical thinking. Our UFO story isnt over yet. I wish every high school student in America would read this book - but that would make life a lot harder for legions of politicians, hucksters, and scam artists. An Introduction to the nature of scientific reasoning and the application of inductive and critical thinking skills and discourse to claims regarding folk theories, evolution, and other controversial issues. 1. Mayfield Pub Co. The authors focus on types of logical arguments and proofs, making How to Think about Weird Things a versatile supplement for logic, critical thinking, philosophy of science, or any other science appreciation courses. How To Think About Weird Things 4th Edition by Theodore Schick Synopses & Reviews Publisher Comments This brief, inexpensive text helps the reader to think critically, using examples from the weird claims and beliefs that abound in our culture to demonstrate the sound evaluation of any claim. On Sagans view, such claims require extraordinarily strong evidence before we should accept them much stronger than the evidence required to support a far less improbable claim. Psychologists call this tendency confirmation bias. He has also contributed to a number of volumes in Open Courts Philosophy and Popular Culture series as well as Blackwells Philosophy for Everyone series. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! ISBN-13: 9780073386621. And this time in reading it, I thought that I might generate a blog postto accompanyeach chapter, responding to thingsthat leap out at me on this particular read-through. Its also worth remembering that such stories are in any case often dubious. . The deputy sheriff described a large lighted object. However, those who hold weird beliefs often muddle consistency and confirmation. Yes, if there was an ancient Martian civilisation, then we might discover what appeared to be a huge face built on the surface of the planet. 7. Definitely something I'd recommend for a course on critical thinking using multiple sources, or even a textbook course of study solely by itself. It's probably best you don't try it. Finally, the press got interested. Granted, no one likes the guy who brings logic to the party, so you might not want to start off every statement with, "well, actually". Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. However, when it comes to ghosts, psychic powers or conspiracy theories, we often hold wildly divergent views not only about how reasonable such beliefs are, but also about what might count as strong evidence for or against them, and who the relevant authorities are. Their testimony is even backed up by hard evidence that radar blip. One such piece of toast that was said to show the face of the Virgin Mary (how do we know what she looked like?) Induce general hypotheses or possible explanations for what we have observed 3. Another reason could be because you are a silent type. Observe 2. Product Identifiers. weird things isnt even referring to weird things, for in our current world we have been so inundated in insanity and the spectacular that weird is our normal. These ideas, which are commonly called shower thoughts, allow us to look at things from a different perspective. Mainstream religions are often committed to miracles and gods. Psychologists have developed theories to account for this tendency to overdetect agency, including that we have evolved whats called a hyperactive agency detecting device. . But notice that, had the reporters not discovered the truth, this story would likely have gone down in the annals of ufology as one of the great unexplained cases. In particular, we have a strong tendency to overdetect agency to think we are witnessing a person, an alien or some other sort of creature or being where in truth theres none. This concise and engaging text teaches the basic principles of good reasoning through an examination of widely held beliefs about the paranormal, the supernatural, and the mysterious. They are known as 'shower thoughts', and as the name suggests, they tend to happen to a lot of people while they're in the shower. 8. Your email address will not be published. Well, it is of course possible that Jane is playing a prank on me with her wet coat and brolly. Often, when were presented with strong evidence that our belief is false, we can easily change our mind. 5. And so he can continue to insist his belief is logically consistent with the evidence. UFO abductions, television psychics, paranormal phenomena, skeptics and believers alike, find themselves debating truths and lies in the strange web of pseudoscience and the occult. The RationalWiki portal provides many excellent articles on pseudoscience. Many people believe in extraordinary hidden beings, including demons, angels, spirits and gods. 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