Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudo-Science, Superstition, and Bogus Notions of Our Time.Michael Shermer. Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudo-Science, Superstition, and Bogus Notions of Our Time. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : MJF MJF Michael J. Fox MJF Melvin Jones Fellow (Lions Clubs International award) MJF Medical Journal Finder MJF Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum (Nepalese Marxist political party) MJF Married Jewish Female Books, 1997. The answer to why people believe weird things is spelled out in chapter three of this book, titled "How Thinking Goes Wrong: Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things." Among the fallacies listed are the following: 1. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc: The fact that two events follow each other in sequence does not mean they are connected causally. 2. Ad hominem [Latin, To the person.] A term used in debate to denote an argument made personally against an opponent, instead of against the opponent's argument. and Tu quoque: Literally "to the man" and "you also," these fallacies redirect the focus from thinking about the idea to thinking about the person holding the idea. 3. Either-or: The tendency to dichotomize di·chot·o·mize v. di·chot·o·mized, di·chot·o·miz·ing, di·chot·o·miz·es v.tr. To separate into two parts or classifications. v.intr. To be or become divided into parts or branches; fork. the world so that if you discredit one position, the observer is forced to accept the other. 4. Anecdotes do not make science: Without corroborative cor·rob·o·rate tr.v. cor·rob·o·rat·ed, cor·rob·o·rat·ing, cor·rob·o·rates To strengthen or support with other evidence; make more certain. See Synonyms at confirm. evidence from other sources, or physical proof of some sort, ten anecdotes are no better than one. 5. Circular reasoning: This occurs when the conclusion or claim is merely a restatement of one of the premises. 6. Effort inadequacies and the need for certainty, control, and simplicity: Most of us, most of the time, want to control our environment, and want nice, neat, simple explanations. 7. Ideological immunity: In day-to-day life, and in science, we resist fundamental paradigm change. 8. Over reliance on authorities: We tend to over rely on authorities in our culture, especially if the authority is considered to be highly intelligent. 9. Hasty generalization: In logic, the hasty generalization is a form of improper induction. In life, it is called prejudice. 10. Reductio ad absurdem: A refutation ref·u·ta·tion also re·fut·al n. 1. The act of refuting. 2. Something, such as an argument, that refutes someone or something. Noun 1. of an argument by carrying the argument to its logical end and so reducing it to an absurd conclusion. To go beyond fallacious reasoning, Shermer, a science historian and the editor of Skeptic magazine, suggests the use of the scientific method and the philosophy of skepticism (two approaches that are similarly recommended by general semantics). In Why People Believe Weird Things he makes a compelling case for why these two approaches can fortify for·ti·fy v. for·ti·fied, for·ti·fy·ing, for·ti·fies v.tr. To make strong, as: a. To strengthen and secure (a position) with fortifications. b. To reinforce by adding material. individuals against the lures of pseudo-science, superstition, and other sources of bogus notions. |
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