Polls indicate that a third or more of US citizens believe that the Universe is less than 10,000 years old. An illustration ofhow Schick and Vaughn bring their reflections on paradigms, logical possibility, and physical impossibility together is in their discussion of precognition: what are we to make of people who claim tohave seenthe future? The first chapter of this book left a poor taste in my mouth. Sometimes whales and dolphins are found with atavistic limbs leg-like structures where legs would be found on land mammals. 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. 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. This text serves well as a supplemental text in critical thinking, logic, introduction to philosophy, philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, introduction to psychology, anomalistic psychology, perception and cognition, as well as any introductory science course. Book reviews, interviews, editors' picks, and more. How easily people can come to believe something that is not reflective of their own beliefs or personal experience. Understand what strong evidence actually is. Take a look at the Answers in Genesis website developed by the Bible literalist Ken Ham, and youll discover how a great deal of other evidence for evolution and a billions-of-years-old Universe is similarly explained away. Still, if we count only Simons hits and ignore his misses, its easy to create the impression that he has some sort of gift. Critical thinking, Curiosities and wonders Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill Higher Education Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks Digitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation Contributor Internet Archive Language English Co. October 1994. in philosophy from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Brown University. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Ham believes that, by explaining away the evidence against young-Earth creationism in this way, he can show that his theory fits and so is scientifically confirmed by that evidence: According to Ham, young-Earth creationists and evolutionists do the same thing: they look for ways to make the evidence fit the theory to which they have already committed themselves: But, of course, scientists havent just found ways of showing how the theory of evolution can be made consistent with the evidence. The moral I draw is that UFO cases that have multiple eyewitnesses and even independent hard evidence (the radar blip) may well crop up occasionally anyway, even if there are no alien craft in our skies. They tend to be excellent actors and can mold themselves to the requirements of a situation like a chameleon. Thinking about weird things, then, brings us face-to-face with some of the most fundamental issues in human thought. It falters in terms of how to reconcile these approaches with the existence of unscientific phenomena which cannot be wholly undone without cruelty, discrimination or violence - culture, gender identity, etc. And so, if you insist that you have existential freedomthat you are not a robotperhaps that also necessarily means that you are not a psychic either: But heres where Schick and Vaughns relentlesscritical thinkingtreatedas auniversal acidcould lead to mischievousness, for might such insistence on intellectual coherence in all matters drive one, well, mad? I got more from class notes at lectures than this book. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Perhaps the most obvious strategy we can employ when a belief in which we have invested a great deal is threatened is to start explaining away the evidence. And, of course, nature is occasionally going to throw up the face-like patterns just by chance. this is the best book out there i've read (and i've read like a ton) specifically about the paranormal. It's thought that your skin replaces itself regularly without you ever realizing it. This book literally teaches you how to think about weird things. Finally, the press got interested. 100% Success rate. Psychic reading and astrology are huge businesses with turnovers of billions of dollars per year. I flagged this book to read after seeing it mentioned in an article about critical thinking some time ago. Notice howSchick and Vaughnfirst make the very coherence of the idea dependent on logic, and the nature of the paradigms and evidence surrounding it: [T]here are models of physical reality, consistent with all known physical laws, in which the future does exist now. Why? Needed this book for an online philosophy class, Its nice to have tangible material I can cross reference and take on the go so this book was perfect, also its not different from the newer version so all the info was correct. 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. Whatever that unappealing quality was, it dissipated in the following chapters, and I am delighted that I stuck it out and took the time to reflect on the messages of the text. These discoveries strongly confirm the theory that whales and dolphins evolved from earlier limbed, land-dwelling species. Summary Full Book Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. Every other year or so I find myself returning to Theodore Schick and Lewis Vaughnscritical thinking text,How to Think about Weird Things,and rereading the wholedarn thing through again. A worthwhile textbook on critical thinking, written for the modern audience without focusing on pointless abstractions. Psyche is published by registered charity Aeon Media Group Ltd in association with Aeon America, a 501(c)(3) charity. In fact, it is likely to do this around 900 times during your lifetime. Other Editions of How to Think about Weird Things How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age - 7th edition How to Think About Weird Things Critical Thinking for a New Age by Theodore Schick, Lewis Vaughn, and Theodore, Jr. Schick. Some believe it is created by the interaction between our consciousness and our four-dimensional selves. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers 49m On his way home from a friend's house, young Will sees something terrifying. 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. Your subscription to Connect includes the following: SmartBook - an adaptive digital version of the course textbook that personalizes your reading experience based on how well you are learning the content. Access to your instructors homework assignments, quizzes, syllabus, notes, reminders, and other important files for the course. Progress dashboards that quickly show how you are performing on your assignments and tips for improvement. The option to purchase (for a small fee) a print version of the book. I used this as a textbook when I taught critical reasoning. 7th Edition Critical thinking reading and writing 7th edition ebook may have wear andor considerable writing, ships. An auxiliary officer reported five lighted objects that appeared to be burning and about 20 times the size of a passing plane. Anyone who failed to believe at least that much would be excessively sceptical one of those perpetual naysayers whose kneejerk reaction, no matter how strong the evidence, is always to pooh-pooh. 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. As someone who finds himself more and more irritated by irrational thinking (despite my own gaping biases that lead to it), I was really interested in reading this book. You're physically unable to swallow and breathe at the same time. Thus, I read a text book for fun. Heres Jeffersons exact quote (15): I could more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall down from heaven. Any theory, no matter how absurd, can, with sufficient ingenuity be made to fit the evidence: even Daves theory that dogs are Venusian spies. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. Sometimes, belief in weird things is pretty harmless. Excellent! The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand. Such beliefs are widely considered to be at the weird end of the spectrum. However, its proponents are adept at explaining away that evidence. The methodology presented by Shermer allows one to think clearly and understand why humans want to believe in so many false things. Privacy Statement, Stuvia is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university, Comme convenu! You will find more lots books in various disciplines. The book Critical Thinking (2017) by Tom Chatfield offers a toolkit for what he calls being reasonable in an unreasonable world. The Five Elements of Effective Thinking. He is currently professor of philosophy at Muhlenberg College where he has served as Director of Academic Computing, Director of Freshman Seminars, Director of the Muhlenberg Scholars Program, and Chair of the Philosophy Department. The emphasis is neither on debunking nor on advocating specific . Suppose for example that Fred claims Alice visited him last night, sat on his sofa and drank a cup of tea. He has always cared more for truth than for consistency. It is exactly this balance of apparent contradictions that hasbeen the wholebuoyancy of the healthy man. So what creates the illusion ofchange? I wish I was given a book like this when I was in middle school. List Price: $32.00. Your email address will not be published. Rather, his texts were later creatively interpreted to fit what subsequently happened. In which case, such reports are not strong evidence of alien visitors. Maybe the way we talk about one thing is not the way we should talk about another. The British mathematician Norman Fenton, professor of risk information management at Queen Mary University of London, provides a brief online introduction to Bayesian approaches to assessing evidence. 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. You don't enjoy talking too much because you are an introvert. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. By explaining what distinguishes knowledge from opinion, science from pseudoscience, and evidence from hearsay, How to Think about Weird Things helps the reader develop the skills needed to tell the true from the . For the most part, what I mean by a "weird thing" is: a claim unaccepted by most people in that particular field of study, a claim that is either logically impossible or highly unlikely, and/or a claim for which the evidence is largely anecdotal and uncorroborated. | Browse our daily deals for even more savings! 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. The Atlantic article The Cognitive Biases Tricking Your Brain (2018) by Ben Yagoda provides a great introduction to thinking that can lead us astray, including confirmation bias. But suppose Fred adds that, during her visit, Alice flew around the room by flapping her arms. Its an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence. 5. Belief in precognition, for example, if it isaccountedfor within a block universeparadigm, may logically compel you to reject the idea of human freedom: You are free to do something only if you can refrain from doing it. It has incredible processing power and storage capacity, it can handle a huge amount of sensory input at once, and it not only makes us who we are, but it keeps us going, too. Don't know how to think? Using video, images and music, pro. Those babies took milk and turned it into 12 pounds of flesh, bone, and brain. 1. 4. Thats not to say its reasonable or well confirmed. This book really makes you "think about what you're thinking about." WEIRD subjects, from countries that represent only about 12 percent of the world's population, differ from other populations in moral decision making, reasoning style, fairness, even things like . The authors do a decent job of laying out modes of reasoning in order to counter extraordinary claims such as alien abductions/visitations, psychic phenomenon, ghosts, conspiracy theories and other wild phenomenon. The early 20th century Catholic essayist and detective fiction writer, G.K. Chesterton, thought it might. is a philosopher and author. Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2019. I ended up asking my prof if there were better books out there that discussed critical thinking. This view of the universe has come to be known as the 'block universe' view because it takes the universe to be a static, unchanging 'block.' But the universe doesn't seem static. Lives have certainly been lost. Induce general hypotheses or possible explanations for what we have observed 3. Edition: 5th. By explaining what distinguishes knowledge from opinion, science from pseudoscience, and evidence from hearsay, How to Think about Weird Things helps the reader develop the skills needed to tell the true from the false and the reasonable from the unreasonable. ISBN-10. Had I been so fortunate, this book would have been the best text I could imagine for such a course. 2. Jane walks in with a wet coat and umbrella and tells me its raining. pages Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of "Why People Believe Weird Things" by Michael Shermer. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking $211.14 (31) Only 1 left in stock. This view of the universe has come to beknown as the block universe view because it takes the universe to bea static, unchanging block. But the universe doesnt seem static. . . Overview; View 14 Editions Details; Reviews Lists; Related Books; Publish Date. You don't like small talk because you find it boring. Einstein's theory of relativity provides a way of looking at the universe that makes it both logically and physically possible for the future to exist now. Before we answer, heres my first piece of advice. Chesterton is clearly dismissing the importance of maintaining intellectual coherence in discourse. Nearby, a sinister secret lurks in the depths of a government lab. Peddlers of alternative medicine and faith healing charge exorbitant fees for their cures for terminal illnesses. 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. The police also took a call from local air traffic control about an unidentified blip on their radar. 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". Consequently, weve evolved to err on the side of overdetection often seeing agency where there is none. 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. This is an excellent book that explains critical thinking, Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2014. 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. Took a call from local air traffic control about an unidentified blip on their radar indicate that third. Advocating specific would have been the best book out there that discussed critical thinking reading and are. Suppose Fred adds that, during her visit, how to think about weird things summary flew around the room flapping! Officer reported five lighted objects that appeared to be excellent actors and can mold themselves to the requirements of government! 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