or... How Not to Be Stupid
Credit to Carey Burtt for producing this video on YouTube:
Transcription, comments, notes and definitions added by Victor Wheeler.
Edits are underlined.
07-Nov-2022
Are you stupid? Yes. No. Yes. No. Maybe? If you answered, "Yes", odds are that you're smart: smart enough to know how stupid you are. And that's a very good start. There's hope for you. Here's some tips to sharpen your thinking. Who is critical thinking for? Everyone? Not by a long shot. Critical thinking is for the elite few who choose to use the tools of critical thinking. It's not for pussies, not for intellectual cowards—it's for truth seekers, as opposed to personal comfort seekers or "right fighters"—people whose need to be "right" not only prevents them from discovering truth, but can hinder many parts of their life.
Critical thinking sounds good, but what's in it for me?
Critical thinking is for people who want to be adults, want to be sober as opposed to drunk, and seek clarity and understanding rather than wallow in intellectual arrogance. Basically, critical thinking is for responsible people: people who fly our planes, drive our busses, write our laws, run our country, run our businesses, teach our children, raise our children, vote—in short, everyone: you!
You might be thinking... "I am skeptical", "I don't know", "being stupid is fun and easy", "critical thinking is no fun", "it's hard", "it's lonely", "but being stupid makes me feel better", "but I love the easy feel-good answers stupidity provides", "critical thinking is unnatural". You're right! But man in his natural state is lazy, self-centered, illogical, unreasonable, selfish, prone to dilusion, magical thinking, wishful thinking, self-deceptive. Critical thinkers are aware of these pitfalls of human fallibility and battle against their natural shortcomings and bad habits.
The following is a review and comparison of two radically-different ways of thinking we find in our society today. Note that the statements in red are not always fallacies. There are excellent arguments both ways, and are true or fallacy depending on the context they are taken in.
The enemies of clear thinking are:
Confirmation Bias
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I like to gather that agrees with and supports my conclusions.
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I like to get all relevant sides of an issue before making a conclusion.
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Hearing other sides makes me confused, frustrated, and angry. I find new or conflicting evidence threatening and tedius. Once I believe something, I stick to it. That's strength.
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I enjoy hearing new points of view because my ultimate intention is to get to the truth.
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Conclusion Before Evidence (This is what the lying, lame-stream fake media do.)
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I like to come to a conclusion first and then gather only the evidence that supports my conclusion.
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I like to hear and examine all relevant sides before drawing a conclusion.
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Memory
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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My memory is totally reliable.
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My memory can be unreliable.
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Ignorance
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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Research is difficult and a downer. I'd rather stay in the comfort of what I already believe. Researching other points of view is a waste of time. It makes me feel uncomfortable and scared. I find ignorance comforting.
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I love to do research and adapt my conclusions as new facts are presented.
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Perception
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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If I've seen it, I believe it, and that's that.
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I will not rely on any one person's testimony.
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I saw what I saw, and that's what I saw. (Can be easily fooled by "Wag-the-Dog Media".)
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This is what I saw, but I could be wrong.
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Personal Bias
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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My feelings are the closest to the facts.
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I make an effort to remove my emotions and bias when evaluating evidence and drawing conclusions. I try to be as objective as I can and keep my personal bias at bay.
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Feelings are facts. They're better than facts.
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Feelings are not facts. My personal feelings are not relevant here.
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Physical / Emotional
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I think that I make the wisest decisions when I am exhausted and stressed out.
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I like to be well-rested and alert before I make crucial decisions.
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Testimonial Evidence
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I like to make generalizations, judgements and conclusions based on my own personal experiences, or those of my friends, or my favorite celebrities.
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Facts are facts.
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Extraordinary Claims
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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Extraordinary claims require extraordinary people to believe them.
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Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
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Ambiguity
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I see clarity as a threat to my sense of power and importance in this world. Clarity makes me feel small and insignificant. So therefore, I avoid it. I prefer my reality to be foggy and mysterious.
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If words or expressions are ambiguous or confusing, I hold off on making judgements or conclusions.
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Assuring Expressions
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I agree with facts that make me feel better and more powerful. If the conclusion is comforting, it's most likely true.
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Just because an argument favors me doesn't make it true.
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Emotional Content
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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Emotionally moving testimonies are the most convincing.
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Emotions muddy the waters of finding the validity of an argument.
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Facts get in the way of the fun. I like to live in a magical land of candy and unicorns.
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I like to focus on the relevant facts to get a clear picture of reality.
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Fact vs. Opinion
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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There's not such thing as facts. Just beliefs and opinions.
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There is a difference between facts and opinion.
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Ego
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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If I can't understand it, it doesn't exist. My opinions are more important than your facts because they're mine. Like in Quantum Physics, I play an important role in how reality is shaped. I am intimately involved in how our reality is shaped. I am responsible for everything that happens to me.
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There's an objective reality separate from me.
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Suspending judgement is the practice of the weak minded.
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Suspending judgement is the practice of the strong minded.
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I like to come to a quick conclusion and stick to it. That's what's called being strong.
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I love suspending judgement and staying flexible.
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Uncertainty is painful, so I like to eliminate it as soon as possible. Uncertainty is for losers.
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I am comfortable suspending judgement. I am going to wait until all the facts are in.
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Independent Testing
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I don't need independent testing about my beliefs. I would not believe those testing to be objective anyway. Especially if they don't agree with me.
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I would like this to be independently tested before I make a judgement.
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Objective testing is impossible.
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I like to test theories scientifically.
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Apophenia or Superstition
Definition: apophenia, the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas).
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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Event B happened after event A, therefore A caused B. There is no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. And the reason that benefits me is the correct one.
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Just because one event preceded the second event doesn't mean the first caused the second.
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Either/Or Fallacy
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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The world is very simple. Things are either one way or the other: either A or B. Anybody who says different is just trying to deceive you and muddy the waters.
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The world is complex. It's not always either A or B. Sometimes its both, or something completely different.
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Ad Hominem Fallacy
Definition: ad himinem, 1) appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect, e.g. "an ad hominem argument". 2) marked by or being an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made, e.g. "...made an ad hominem personal attack on his rival".
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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When I feel I am losing an argument, I like to make personal attacks on my adversary or discredit the source of information. My enemy is a bad man. I like to bring
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It's about evidence, relevance, clarity, and sticking to facts.
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Red Herring
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The Wishful Thinker
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The Critical Thinker
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I like to bring irrelevant stuff up to avoid facing the issue. I find evading the issue is a powerful too to defend my position. The point is to defend my position. It's about survival.
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I'm more interested in finding truth and reaching clarity rather than defending a previously-held position.
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Critical thinker, or intellectual coward: which one are you?
(Hint: That last is a trick question, because you and I both know that the "black or white" question invites the "Either/Or Fallacy", whereas there are a million shades of gray in between. It is my understanding at this time that the best anyone can strive for is to become more perfect by working on it. Knowing your weak areas is the starting ground we hoping to inspire from the above article. :-) —Love and light, Victor Wheeler)
