I haven't blogged about critical thinking for a while now, but that is not at all due to the fact that I have lost interest in it, or no longer think it is valuable.
On the contrary, I think that we all owe it to ourselves to approach claims and facts presented to us critically and with healthy skepticism. After all, these two things are how we protect ourselves from being taken advantage of. It's that simple. Everytime you ask questions about something, you gain more knowledge. It is with knowledge, and knowledge alone, that you can help yourself to avoid the common pitfalls and traps employed by scheisters, con-artists, and advertisements.
Robert L. Park, a professor of physics at the University of Maryland has posted a very good entry over at The Chronicle related to the Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science. This reminds me a lot of Brian Dunning's excellent introduction to critical thinking, Here Be Dragons, The Movie.
It is important to understand that Robert and Brian are only pointing out warning signs. No one is making the claim that just because any of these signs happen to be present means that something is definitely a scam. It just means that, upon noticing something like this, it should trigger a red-flag for you, and cause you to ask perhaps a few more questions that you might otherwise do so.
Do yourself a favour and check out the post here.
Above all, remember: think critically. No one else is going to do that for you, and the people that put forward these kind of claims will do everything in their power to shut down your skepticism and critical thinking.
On the contrary, I think that we all owe it to ourselves to approach claims and facts presented to us critically and with healthy skepticism. After all, these two things are how we protect ourselves from being taken advantage of. It's that simple. Everytime you ask questions about something, you gain more knowledge. It is with knowledge, and knowledge alone, that you can help yourself to avoid the common pitfalls and traps employed by scheisters, con-artists, and advertisements.
Robert L. Park, a professor of physics at the University of Maryland has posted a very good entry over at The Chronicle related to the Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science. This reminds me a lot of Brian Dunning's excellent introduction to critical thinking, Here Be Dragons, The Movie.
It is important to understand that Robert and Brian are only pointing out warning signs. No one is making the claim that just because any of these signs happen to be present means that something is definitely a scam. It just means that, upon noticing something like this, it should trigger a red-flag for you, and cause you to ask perhaps a few more questions that you might otherwise do so.
Do yourself a favour and check out the post here.
Above all, remember: think critically. No one else is going to do that for you, and the people that put forward these kind of claims will do everything in their power to shut down your skepticism and critical thinking.
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