I was recently writing to someone on the Fractal Future Forum. He came across as a very intelligent person, but I noticed that a post of his about medicine showed that he seemed to lack a lot of knowledge about medical testing and the scientific method. So, I asked him some questions, and his reply seemed to contain a logical fallacy in every sentence, concluding with a quote from mercola.com, one of those really dodgy conspiracy theory / anti-science type of sites. You know, the ones that use words like "true" and "fact" and stick things in "BOLD, CAPITAL" letters to make them truer. Now I know, from reading books about cognitive dissonance, that it's likely if I challenge him, then by defending himself, his belief in nonsense will just grow stronger.
Which is why I'm here. I haven't been here in a while, but I remember back in the good old days how much fun I had talking to all these amazing people who had learned to think critically about their former beliefs... and I just really need a place to have a little rant, and then feel good about it afterwards :)
Begin rant - AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! - End rant.
So... I thought I'd just spend a little bit of time promoting critical thinking. These are some of my favourite books to help improve thinking skills. Which ones have you read, and which are your favourites?
Software for Your Brain (Download for free)
English Thinking: The Three Methods (Updated version of Software for Your Brain)
Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me (Easy to read book on cognitive dissonance)
Your Deceptive Mind (Audio book on critical thinking)
The Demon Haunted World (Carl Sagan's excellent book on critical thinking)
When Prophecy Fails (Practical example of cognitive dissonance)
Bad Science (Mostly about medicine and how to figure out which ones to trust)
Tricks of the Mind (For fans of the magician Derren Brown)
Nonsense On Stilts (Discussions about various topics)
Special note: By reading to the bottom of this post you've qualified to read an UNDENIABLE FACT of TRUE TRUENESS: If you share this post with a friend, you will have a million gazillion dollars added to your bank account instantly!
- The Fresh Prince of Nigeria (and random rambler)