Think straight : an owner's manual for the mind / Jon Guy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Guy, Jon (Skeptic), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Critical thinking.

Magical thinking.

Conspiracy theories.

Physical Description:

xii, 383 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Essex, Connecticut : Prometheus Books, [2022]

Summary:

"Our world is awash in mis- and disinformation, baseless conspiracy theories, New Age ideology, anti-science propaganda, and all manner of magical thinking. In careful detail, author Jon Guy investigates the art of thinking critically, offering readers the ability to empower themselves and our society at large"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Meet Skepticism

Building Vocabulary

Toward an Understanding of Critical Thinking

Breaking Bonds

Thinkers Start Your Brains!

Critical Thinking Defined

Thinking Styles and Veridical Vending

Critical Thinking for Everyone

Traits of the Skeptic

Getting Serious

Dangerous Thinking

Hello, Skeptics!

Beliefs and Skepticism

Science and Skepticism

Applied Critical Thinking

Open-Minded Reasoning

The Benefits of CT

Wrapping Up

2. A Philosophical Detour

Skeptical Roots

Science and Philosophy

Science and the Supernatural

Belief and Knowledge

Scientific Knowledge

Philosophical Knowledge

Fact vs. Faith

Relativism

The Appeal of Relativism

Relativism as a Philosophy and an Epistemology

3. Piercing the Scientific Veil

Why Science Matters

Science for the Masses

Doing Science

Falsification

Peer Review

Methods of Research Design

Problems with Research Methodology

Cohorts and Confounds

Confounds

The (In)Famous Placebo

Ideomotor Effects

Ideomotor Madness

Accuracy and Validity

Reading the Data

Far from Perfect

Healthy Skepticism

A Note on Replication

One Study Doesn't Cut It

Publication Bias

Researching Research

4. The Language of Logic

Logic and Its Importance

The Methods and Limits of Logic

Evidence

Inference

Reason

Judgment

Argument

Logical Fallacies

The Fallacy Zoo

The Non Sequitur

Argument from Authority

Argumentum Ad Hominem

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Argument from Ignorance

Everyday Argument

Persuasion

The Appeal of Argument

Argument in Logic

Structuring Meaningful Arguments

Arguing for a Cause

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

5. Building Your Skeptical Tool Kit

The Importance of Pseudologic

The Slippery Slope

The False Dilemma

Moving the Goalpost

Special Pleading

Hasty Generalization

Countless Counterfeit

"Tu Quoque"

The Straw Man

Cognitive Biases

Storytelling Bias

The Confirmation Bias

Heuristics

Availability Error

Representativeness Reasoning

Anchors Aweigh

Presentation Matters

Pot Committed

Other Useful Thinking Tools

Occam's Razor

Regression Problems

Down with the Profound

Reasonable Belief

6. Self-Deception, Part 1

Memory

Introducing Memory

Memory Is Not as It Seems

Memory's Known Associates

The (Un)Reliability of Memory

Pseudomemories

Eye Saw What You Did

False Memories

Creating Memories

Repressed Memories

Memory and the Law

Remember Forgetting

Our Ever-Changing Memories

Strange Memories

Two Distortions Do Not Equal Clarity

7. Self-Deception, Part 2

Belief

Beliefs

Origins of Beliefs

Evaluating the Source

The Expert Non-expert

Predatory Publications

Evaluating Beliefs

The Highways and Byways of Belief

The Roadways of Belief

Making Connections Real or Imagined

The Roots of Belief

Mere-Exposure Effect

Continued Influence Effect

To Control or Be Controlled

Unchallengeable Beliefs

The "Essence" of Belief

8. Self-Deception, Part 3

Perception and Pattern Recognition

Perception

How Our Brains Construct Our Realities

Tricking the Senses

The Lengths Our Brains Go to Trick Us

Trusting Skepticism

What You See Is NOT What You Get

Experiencing the World

The Illusion of Confidence

More Errors of Perception

Inattentional Blindness

Change Blindness

Expectancy Illusions

Pattern Recognition

Patterns Galore

Visual Pareidolia

Audio Pareidolia

The Prevalence of Pattern Seeking and Pattern Recognition

9. Innumeracy and the Deception of Coincidence

Innumeracy

Coincidence Demystified

That's So Random

Searching for Meaning

Critical Mass and the Hundredth Monkey

Counting the Hits and Ignoring the Misses

Astrology and the Barnum Effect

Miracle Water

Toward a Better Understanding of What's Probable

Tipping the Scales

Probability

10. Practically Thinking

The Scaffolds of Science

Tools of Science

A Fly in the Ointment

The Progressive Nature of Science

Where Science Meets Skepticism

The SEARCH Method

Step 1 State the Claim

Step 2 Examine the Evidence for the Claim

Step 3 Consider Alternative Hypotheses

Step 4 Rate, According to the Criteria of Adequacy, Each Hypothesis

The Socratic Method

Stage 1 Wonder

Stage 2 Hypothesis

Stage 3 Elenchus (Q&A)

Stage 4 Accept or Revise Hypothesis

Stage 5 Act Accordingly

11. The Fringes of Science

Supernatural

Paranormal

The Boundaries of Science

Proof and Probability

Believing Is Not Enough

Superstition

Cause and Effect

Believing in Everything

Regression to the Mean

12. Standing in Science's Way

Meet Pseudoscience

Fake Science in Action

Pseudojargon

Biases in Pseudoscience

Folk Knowledge

Evidence in Pseudoscience

Questioning Evidence

Health and Pseudoscience

Pseudomedicine

Homeopathy

13. Conspiracies

What "They" Want You to Think Maybe

Minding Conspiracy Theories

A Web of Beliefs

The Patterns of Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy Theories as Rumors

The Fabric of Conspiracies

The Cognoscenti

Conspiracy Theory Demographics

Getting in Where You Fit In

The World Divided

Piercing the Psychological Veil

Making Connections

What You Get Is What You See

Weighing the Evidence

The Grandest of Grand

Manufactroversies

Conspiracy Theory-Inspired Beliefs

Vaccines Cause Autism

Human-Caused Global Climate Change

Wrapping Up.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Guy, Jon. Think straight

ISBN:

9781633887978

1633887979

OCLC:

1293450007