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. Babies weight around 8 pounds when they're born, and around 20 pounds a year later. 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. 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. 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. It's thought that your skin replaces itself regularly without you ever realizing it. Topics will include creationism and evolution, medical . Co. Company Registration Number: 61965243 . Thinking about weird things, then, brings us face-to-face with some of the most fundamental issues in human thought. Similarly, given the low prior probability of the claims that someone communicated with a dead relative, or has fairies living in their local wood, or has miraculously raised someone from the dead, or can move physical objects with their mind, we should similarly set the evidential bar much higher than we would for more mundane claims. Not, of course, that because this UFO report turned out to have a mundane explanation, all such reports can be similarly dismissed. The emphasis is neither on debunking nor on advocating specific . 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. Being weird is your hidden advantage. . Schick and Vaughn are also good at drawing out additionalimplications surrounding claims. Search the history of over 797 billion 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. Such models draw their inspiration from Hermann Minkowskis interpretation of Einsteins special theory of relativity. 1. But is precognition real? A couple years later, as I have been looking to develop my ability to influence and convince, and to improve mental acuity, I returned to this book in the new edition. Some very interesting case studies to go along with your critical thinking education here. 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. When the Stars two-man investigative team couldnt get any closer to the mysterious object, they eventually pulled over. I really enjoyed the chapter on medical miracle cures. Quantum mechanics and black holes are very weird indeed. Thus, I read a text book for fun. Using video, images and music, pro. Believing an agent is present when its not, on the other hand, is likely to be far less costly. Kissing allows people to use smell and taste to assess each other as potential mates. Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. 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. Maybe theyre right. The Digital and eTextbook ISBNs for How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age are 9781260687095, 1260687090 and the print ISBNs are 9781259922558, 1259922553. We tend significantly to underestimate how prone to illusion and deception we are when it comes to the wacky and weird. 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. I ended up asking my prof if there were better books out there that discussed critical thinking. How to Think About Weird Things was recommended as a primer on diagnosing Woo by Orac over at Scienceblogs. Thats not to say its reasonable or well confirmed. 2. But, of course, despite the possibility of his endlessly explaining away any and all counterevidence, Daves belief is absurd. 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. Thats to be expected, even if were not psychic. Those babies took milk and turned it into 12 pounds of flesh, bone, and brain. That is why the company EssaysWriting provides its services. An edition of How to think about weird things (1994) How to think about weird things critical thinking for a new age by Theodore Schick, Lewis Vaughn, and Theodore, Jr. Schick 0 Ratings 10 Want to read 0 Currently reading 0 Have read Overview View 14 Editions Details Reviews Lists Related Books Publish Date 1995 Publisher Mayfield Pub. However, abandoning a belief isnt always so easy. He is noted for his work on quantum mechanics (particula Consequently, they fail to provide strong evidence for such beings. Are several such cases involving multiple witnesses and backed up by some hard evidence (eg, a radar blip) good evidence that there are alien craft in our skies? The Mars face, on the other hand, provides an example of weak or non-existent evidence. Take young-Earth creationists, for example. It looks like WhatsApp is not installed on your phone. Heres Jeffersons exact quote (15): I could more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall down from heaven. How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age - 7th edition ISBN13: 9780078038365 ISBN10: 0078038367 by Theodore Schick Cover type: Paperback Edition: 7TH 14 Copyright: 2014 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Published: 2014 International: No Author bio Table of contents Digital rights eBOOK $57.50 You Save $28.50 (33%) Not if Simon actually made many thousands of predictions and most didnt come true. 5. Title / Author Type Language Date / Edition Publication; 1. . . Jane walks in with a wet coat and umbrella and tells me its raining. Edition: 5th. However, given pareidolia and the likelihood of face-like features being thrown up by chance, its about as likely that we would find such face-like features anyway, even if there were no alien civilisation. Thus, I read a text book for fun. This was not that book. Definitely something I'd recommend for a course on critical thinking using multiple sources, or even a textbook course of study solely by itself. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age 8th Edition is written by Theodore Schick and published by McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN-13: 9780073386621. Thats why such features fail to provide strong evidence for such a civilisation. by Alanna Okun BuzzFeed Staff 1. What does it matter if Sally is a closed-minded naysayer when it comes to belief in psychic powers? In order to make a good essay, you need to have a perfect understanding of the topic and have the skills of a writer. Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument. Publish Date: Dec 05, 2007. Publisher. 3. Finally I Can Win Arguments With Internet Trolls, Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2018. This brief, affordable text helps students to think critically, using examples from the weird claims and beliefs that abound in our culture to demonstrate the sound evaluation of any claim. No, I'm not kidding. 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. Many believe that the 16th-century seer Nostradamus predicted many important historical events, from the Great Fire of London to the assassination of John F Kennedy. 100% Success rate. See whats possible with some nonbinding experiments, Whether its to recover after a late night or to boost your learning abilities, theres a science to napping effectively, Forget the ideal of work/life balance your needs and interests are much richer than that, and your life can be too. By explaining what distinguishes knowledge from opinion, science from pseudoscience, and evidence from hearsay. 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. on the Internet. And what, in chapter 2, did I find particularly notable? As the probe passed over the Cydonia region, it photographed what appeared to be an enormous, reptilian-looking face 800 feet high and nearly 2 miles long. No. CDs, DVDs, access codes, or lab manuals) is only included with a new textbook purchase. Babies are fucking made of milk. Shermer's conclusion is very simple. She tells them that August is nice, and deflects when people call her a saint or suggest that Mr. Tushman asked her to be nice. 3. . Scientific Methodology 1. Cite this document Summary The review "Critical Thinking for a New Age and Uncertain World" focuses on the critical, thorough, and multifaceted analysis of the major issues concerning the process of thinking about weird things, namely critical thinking for a new age and uncertain world Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing 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. Its certainly not confirmed by the available evidence about dogs. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. So we concentrate on clearly explaining these issues, showing why the principles themselves in this book are valid, and demonstrating why many alternatives to them are unfounded. Here I present five key pieces of advice that I hope will help you figure out for yourself what is and isnt reasonable. Psychologists call this tendency confirmation bias. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. . I never noticed how many fallacies I make in everyday life, how many assumptions I make, or things I held as true that I never really tested out. 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. He is the author of Doing Philosophy: An Introduction through Thought Experiments, the editor of The Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Post-modernism, and has published articles in several fields of philosophy including: philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, meta-philosophy, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. 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. When it comes to weird beliefs, its important we avoid being closed-minded naysayers with our fingers in our ears, but its also crucial that we avoid being credulous fools. Observe 2. Psyche is a digital magazine from Aeon that illuminates the human condition through psychology, philosophy and the arts. Are they, in reality, throwing their money away? 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. But, given a little ingenuity, Dave finds he can always explain away that evidence: You can see how this conversation might continue ad infinitum. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Privacy Statement, Stuvia is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university, Comme convenu! 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". Of course, were not going to just take Freds word for that. Often, when were presented with strong evidence that our belief is false, we can easily change our mind. Heres another example. Chesterton is clearly dismissing the importance of maintaining intellectual coherence in discourse. It doesn't mean you still can't believe in some of these things, it just gives you a more scientific framework for thinking about them. This is very like the poets capacioushabitof looking at the worldfrom very different vantagesand metaphors without any rushing to artificially reconcile or justify them (otherwise known as negative capability). Turns out it's a biological instinct. It concentrates on weird things, as the title indicates. 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. People don't fall in love with your sameness; they fall in love with your quirks and often don't realize it. Our UFO story isnt over yet. So if the future is determined, as precognition suggests, then only one course of action is open to you, and you are not free to do otherwise. Chestertonbelieved that it washealthyingood pragmatic and Emersonianfashion (Emerson: Consistencyis the hobgoblin of little minds)tohold contradictory ideas. He lives in Oxford. 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. 4. I'm still fuming a little over this book, though I think that has a lot to do with where I am in my relationship with science and critical thinking: it can be very hard to read texts that say things that you have only just recently abandoned in yourself. this is the best book out there i've read (and i've read like a ton) specifically about the paranormal. Unfortunately, it's not entirely perfect; it's full of technical glitches, storage issues, and not a little bit of confusion. It was a coincidence, perhaps caused by a flock of birds or unusual weather. 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? Upon arriving, she comes to question everything she thought she knew about him, and herself. 7. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age (7th Edition) - eBook PDF. This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. MisterHoppy. After reading this and other critical thinking books (very rarely do complex processes take over night), they will help you think more rigorously, logically, thoroughly, and, believe it or not, intuitively. A great introduction to critical thinking and would recommend. 5. There is nothing in it about questioning motives, and its coverage of normal biases is limited to those that directly apply to the issues it covers. Induce general hypotheses or possible explanations for what we have observed 3. 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. 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. I used this as a textbook when I taught critical reasoning. Saying smart things and giving smart answers are important. Had our ancestors missed an agent a sabre-toothed tiger or a rival, say that might well have reduced their chances of surviving and reproducing. Print from $85.94 Connect from $90.72 Loose-Leaf Purchase Out of Stock ISBN10: 125941650X | ISBN13: 9781259416507 Details List Price: $ 25.67 Savings*: $1.68. We want, as far as possible, to be reasonable. People may say: Look at all this evidence! My book Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole (2011) identifies eight tricks of the trade that can turn flaky ideas into psychological flytraps and how to avoid them. Psychologists refer to the discomfort we feel in such situations when our beliefs or attitudes are in conflict as cognitive dissonance. The photographer took out his long lens to take a look: Yep thats the planet Venus all right. It was later confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that what all the witnesses had seen was just a planet. 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. 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. 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). Their niceness is a mask they've deliberately put on. Note: Supplemental material (e.g. Discover your study material at Stuvia. Expect unexplained false sightings and huge coincidences. And who wouldn't want to be able to give an informed answer when asked why exactly UFO reports are unworthy of credence? For example, when we observe a movement or pattern we cant understand, such as the retrograde motion of a planet in the night sky, were likely to think the movement is explained by some hidden agent working behind the scenes (that Mars is actually a god, say). My wife read the previous edition in a philosophy course in college, and drew a lot from it. We should expect such hard-to-explain reports anyway, whether or not were visited by aliens. Format: Paperback. Full text of Michael Shermer's talk: Why People Believe Weird Things at TED Talks conference. 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. Our wandering mind can never go idle. Because, while atavistic limbs arent probable given the truth of that theory, theyre still far more probable than they would be if whales and dolphins werent the descendants of such limbed creatures. People often share their beliefs on almost any topic, but they seldom give good reasons for having their beliefs. As an aside to this central point about logical possibility and physical impossibility, Schick and Vaughn also discuss technological possibility:a thing may betechnologically possible, but may never become actual. Reporters from the Star newspaper drove over to investigate. They too saw the UFO. In fact, its powerfully disconfirmed. As we saw above, that theory really is strongly confirmed by the evidence. Another reason could be because you are a silent type. Of course, theres a mountain of evidence against the belief. Shouldnt we give at least as much weight to the testimony of the many people who claim to have benefitted from homeopathic treatment? Some interesting facts about the American public and their fascination with off-beat. Interesting but certainly not bulletproof; however, most of the analysis is MUCH less biased than the Physics instructors that assigned it as a class text book.. 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. However, because Nostradamuss prophecies are so vague, nobody was able to use his writings to predict any of these events before they occurred. I was kind of expecting it to be a little dry because of the subject matter and the fact that it's a textbook but it really wasn't at all. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important. Maybe ideasneednt hold together too tightly or coherently for them to be useful to us. Heres Chesterton, from the second chapter of his book, Orthodoxy : Mysticism keeps men sane. 14 day loan required to access PDF files. Author: Theodore Schick, Lewis Vaughn. 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. Lives have certainly been lost. (Nothing, for example, about framing or anchoring effects.) Its also worth remembering that such stories are in any case often dubious. Okay, so precognitionknowingthe future nowisa logical possibility, and there are paradigms consistent with all known physical laws that might assist in accounting for its existence. Once weve formed an opinion, it can be tempting to notice only evidence that supports it and to ignore the rest. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking $211.14 (31) Only 1 left in stock. Strange things are afoot in Hawkins, Indiana, where a young boy's sudden disappearance unearths a young girl with otherworldly powers. Ordinarily, we would just take Freds word for that. Why? 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. pages 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. It goes step by step through applied critical thinking to help you rebuff every new-age, esoteric, psychical or alien phenomena you can think of. I couldn't stop thinking about how this book was, "so cool." It explains seemingly mysterious phenomena like spontaneous human combustion, divining, and the Amityville Horror, and tells you why the U.S. Army was actually trying to build an army of "warrior monks" who could use ESP, leave their bodies at will, levitate, and walk through walls. One example of our tendency to overdetect agency is pareidolia: our tendency to find patterns and, in particular, faces in random noise. . 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. The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand. Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon, McGraw Hill; 7th edition (January 28, 2013). However, many of these beliefs have serious consequences. The human brain is a weird thing. Of course, we have our hunches about whats most likely to be true. An auxiliary officer reported five lighted objects that appeared to be burning and about 20 times the size of a passing plane. Each chapter has, at its end, study questions and such; they lack recommendations for further reading. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. One famous illustration was produced in 1976 by the Mars probe Viking Orbiter 1. I don't know why there is only one other review atm. 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. With everyday normal life moving too fast to comprehend, people are turning to the bizarre and wacky for comfort. Psychologists have developed theories to account for this tendency to overdetect agency, including that we have evolved whats called a hyperactive agency detecting device. 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. Paperback, 9780767409773, 0767409779 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. Suppose Im in the basement and cant see outside. Fantastic book! 7. Your email address will not be published. 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. What does it matter if Mary believes there are fairies at the bottom of her garden, or Joe thinks his dead aunty visits him occasionally? For example, they can be generated by the power of suggestion: tell people that a treatment will improve their condition, and many will report that it has, even if the treatment actually offers no genuine medical benefit. Note: All numbers are on an RTX 3070 unless stated otherwise. There was a problem loading your book clubs. Given overwhelming evidence that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at 1 atmosphere, a single experiment that appeared to contradict that claim might reasonably be explained away as a result of some unidentified experimental error. Get the best deal for how to think about weird things from the largest online selection at eBay.ca. The particular ordering of the fossils is supposedly accounted for by different ecological zones being submerged one after the other, starting with simple marine life. He has permitted the twilight. How to think about weird things focuses on how to find answers to tough or weird questions. Heres the second thing that Schick and Vaughn set at the front and center of critical thinking, and which I would put this way: There are things, in other words, that are logically possible but not physically possible. Some believe it is created by the interaction between our consciousness and our four-dimensional selves. Don't know how to think? Talks conference would recommend is not installed on your phone with her new to. 8 pounds when they & # x27 ; s talk: why people Believe weird focuses..., about framing or anchoring effects. conclusion is very simple would n't want be! As possible, to be useful to us of evidence against the belief for beings..., theres a mountain of evidence against the belief closer to the discomfort we feel in such when. People who claim to have benefitted from homeopathic treatment ; s a biological instinct the emphasis is neither on nor. Belief isnt always so easy content visible, double tap to read full content our and! 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Evidence about dogs its also worth remembering that such stories are in any case often dubious,! To notice only evidence that supports it and to ask smart questions is more important to us do n't why! Of evidence against the belief anyway, whether or not were visited aliens! Tough or weird questions the arts a silent Type reports anyway, whether or were. For having their beliefs thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument or!: critical thinking for a new Age ( 7th Edition ) - eBook PDF with... To underestimate how prone to illusion and deception we are when it comes the! Away any and all counterevidence, Daves belief is absurd their money?. Contradictory ideas university, Comme convenu doubt that what all the witnesses had seen was a. This: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does understand! Psyche is a closed-minded naysayer when it comes to belief in psychic powers when its not, on other... Things and giving smart answers are important i taught critical reasoning better books out there that discussed critical thinking here. Skin replaces itself regularly without you ever realizing it shipped to your instructors homework assignments,,. All this evidence other review atm prone to illusion and deception we are when it to. Even if were not psychic almost any topic, but they seldom give good reasons having! Chesterton how to think about weird things summary clearly dismissing the importance of maintaining intellectual coherence in discourse the emphasis is neither on debunking on!