The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit by John V. Petrocelli

The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit by John V. Petrocelli

Author:John V. Petrocelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group


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Many people believe that the only thing one needs to detect bullshit is good old common sense. I understand the temptation. But if common sense was so useful, it wouldn’t prescribe so many contradictions, as found in our most commomsensical knowledge (for example, haste makes waste vs. time waits for no man; you’re never too old to learn vs. you can’t teach an old dog new tricks; look before you leap vs. he who hesitates is lost). If common sense is the only tool you use to defend against bullshit, you will find it difficult to avoid bullshit’s unwanted effects. If you want to become a better bullshit detector and a more critical consumer of information, you must first understand common sense is not enough. If common sense were a reliable reasoning method, we wouldn’t need science or critical thinking.

If you find learning unappealing, are reluctant to critique authorities and experts, strongly dislike finding out that you are wrong sometimes, are indifferent to supporting your beliefs and behavior with fact and reason, dislike critically evaluating your own beliefs and actions, have no desire to intelligently explain to others your reasoning, or are uninterested in focusing on details, bullshit detection isn’t for you. Bullshit detection requires critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a learned process of deliberation, fact-finding, and self-reflection used to comprehend and appropriately evaluate information in order to decide what to believe or what to do. It involves a broad range of skills and attitudes designed to purposefully self-regulate judgments and decisions with reasoned and fair-minded consideration of the evidence. When good critical thinkers suspect they have been exposed to bullshit or discover that their own beliefs and actions may be based on bullshit, they ask themselves five important types of questions:

Collect Data: Have I obtained and reviewed the right types, amounts, and levels of information to comprehend and evaluate the claim?

Recognize Potential Bias: Have I treated the claim or its implications like ideas, refraining from assuming it to be true or false on the basis of my emotional reactions before evaluating the evidence?

Minimize Bias: Have I accurately identified the positions, arguments, and conclusions of the claim and the degree to which any assumptions are sensible, false, or unfair? Have I considered and fairly weighed evidence that opposes, and evidence that supports, the claim?

Assess the Validity of Conclusions: Have I reviewed and drawn logical, valid, and justifiable conclusions provided by the relevant evidence of multiple, independent viewpoints or sources?

Elaborate and Apply: Can I reasonably draw my own well-informed, well-reasoned, and compelling conclusions from the evidence to form arguments convincing to other critical thinkers?



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