If you want to study the subject on a higher level (University) you could start with book from the UK. The book is written by Richard Feldman and named: Reason and Argument , publisher is Prentice Hall 1998. >This book is very expensive, but if you are eager to find Reason and Argument, I think it is a good start to become a Philosofer. Bugbear
Improving Critical Thinking Skills
by GloomySunday 18 Replies latest jw friends
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DJS
One of the books recommended by Besty has a marketing sound bite that asks if you think crime and violence are on the rise. If I asked this question on a new topic it is likely that most on this forum would say that it definitely is. Yet the facts say just the opposite. And that we may be living in the safest time in this country's history. Below is an excerpt from a recent news article on the topic. You can't escape the headlines. An Australian going to college in the United States is gunned down by teens who police say killed him out of boredom. A few days later, a World War II veteran is beaten to death for reasons still unknown. The death of Australian Christopher Lane in Duncan, Oklahoma, even sparked calls for Aussies to boycott travel to the United States because of all the violence. Two shocking, high-profile crimes, one question: "What the hell is going on!?" Facebook user Stacey James Gordon wrote on CNN's Facebook page. "This country better wake up ...our youth have serious issues," Heather Chesser wrote. Although the cases have struck a nerve with their disturbing randomness and apparent cruelty, the reality is that living in the United States may never have been safer, and you're much more likely to be the victim of a crime committed by someone you know than you are to be assaulted by a stranger. WWII veteran beaten to death Thrill kill in Oklahoma Nearly eight of every 10 murders in the United States between 1993 and 2008 were committed by someone the victim knew, according a 2010 report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The report didn't include figures for 2011 or 2012. Similarly, nearly two out of every three nonviolent crimes were committed by someone the victim knew. Pair that with figures on overall crime: According to the FBI, the violent crime rate in the United States is about half what it was in 1992. And between 1992 and 2011, the annual number of murders in the United States fell from 23,760 to 14,612 despite a growing population. Rape, robbery, assault, even property crimes also fell in a well-documented decline that has gone on for years, albeit with a small upturn in 2012. Criminologists have cited shifts in the crack cocaine market, which drove many 1990s-era murders; an increase in the number of offenders behind bars; the country's aging population; and more sophisticated policing for the declines. But perceptions of crime haven't always followed the reality. In May, a Pew Research Center study found that 56% of Americans believe that gun violence is higher than it was 20 year ago, even though it has fallen precipitously since the 1990s. And in 2011, Gallup found that 68% of Americans believed crime was getting worse, despite the reality of declining crime rates nationwide.
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jgnat
I was not raised by Jehovah's Witnesses and being a confirmed geek, I was part of the debating club in school. That time in the club taught me how to think critically. You can do this without joining a club. All you have to do is ask a controversial question and then argue both sides of the case, as convincingly as you can. This one exercise taught me that the world is not black-and-white, and both sides have convincing elements.
Finding flaws in your own arguments, and anticipating the best arguments of your opponent, will help you to think critically. It's a great skill to have and I wish you all the best as you exercise new cognitive muscles.
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/
http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_h_cohen_for_argument_s_sake.html
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WTWizard
You could try researching several different hot topics. You would look at both the mainstream side and the alternative viewpoints, and with the view of determining that you can pick one. There are plenty of hot topics to do this with. Taking cancer research as an example, you would look first at the Establishment viewpoint and then the alternatives. You can do this with religions, especially ones you have little or no experience with. Don't be afraid to be "offended" if you find a viewpoint that radically differs from the Establishment in something, since you are trying to find such on purpose. The goal is to be objective and not be "It's not nice to say anything bad about [group], so anything bad about that group is bad". All that mindset gets you is vulnerable to other cults. ` The list of topics is endless. The more political correctness an issue is charged with, the better. Dive into the 9/11/2001 incident, from all sides including reading ideas that might offend you. Look at the income tax system, what is undermining the dollar, why gas prices are so "high" (and whether they are actually as high as they seem when compared to what happened to the dollar), and the Fed buying the stock market up. Look at the energy crisis, whether fluoride is bad for you or not, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and so on. Yes, you will find a lot of "conspiracy theories" (one of which could in fact become proven fact 20 years after we are all enslaved). Some will in fact be bogus. Your job isn't to find the one that is correct. Instead, you are practicing learning to do your own thinking. ` Another thing that could help is looking at the LIE-ble with the viewpoint that the whole thing could be a program to enslave us all. Read Genesis 2 and 3, but this time ask yourself why God would need to threaten us with death when Satan didn't. Read about Jacob and Esau, and ask if it's acceptable to venerate laziness and sneakiness instead of industriousness. Read Joshua, but this time ask how you would feel if someone evicted you from your house, destroyed everything you had, and even slaughtered you and your family simply because you didn't worship their god. Ask, did Israel have the right to do that? And so on. ` Even the new testament is full of hot air. You could compare Christi-SCAM-ity to communism. Is it communist to expect people to sell their stuff and give to the poor? Jesus commanded his followers to do just that. Who had the stupid idea that even looking at someone where you have passion for them is "adultery of the heart"? Right in the sermon on the mount! Being satisfied with the bare essentials--right in the end of Matthew chapter 6! Are you satisfied with the bare essentials? Turning the other cheek--isn't that a way to allow people to get away with abusing you? Guess who made that stupid harebrained suggestion. Right in the LIE-ble! ` Once you are able to look at things that formally offended you, and decide for yourself whether they are bunk or not, or whether there is some truth in them but the whole thing isn't the truth, you should be pretty difficult to lure into another cult. At least until your next lifetime, when you will have forgotten everything from this life and you can be scammed again into a cult as if you had no experience.
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WTWizard
Seems formatting still needs work. Line breaks do not work, so longer posts (multiple paragraphs) run. And you cannot defeat it by hitting [line break], a character, and another line break either.
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Oubliette
Having a good basic set of critical thinking skills and knowing how to use them is really essential for anyone. It should be a part of everyone's education, sadly it is not.
A good place to start is here:
- Critical Thinking Web: http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/
It's not necessary to be a master logician or advanced in rhetoric to see through the manipulative techniques employed by propagandists such as the writers of WT publications. But most people simply know nothing of these skills. They generally are not taught until the University level and even then only in certain disciplines.
This is why the WT doesn't want their followers getting any higher education. Once you learn even a few critical thinking skills you immediately begin to see through their lies, half-truths and deceptions.
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scotoma
jgnat, Good points. Arguing is not about winning. Arguing is about finding truth. If you argue in good faith you have to be willing to change YOUR mind.
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GloomySunday
Wow! Thanks for all the links and suggestions, everyone! I'll be looking into these for certain.
~GloomySunday