"Follow those who seek the truth, run from those who claim to have found it." -Old Adage
"If some good evidence for life after death were announced, I'd be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere anecdote.... Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy."
-Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World, page 204)
"Crap Detection 101" by Howard Rheingold
"The Essential Skill of Crap Detecting" By Alan Shapiro
"The CRAP Test" by Tony Karrer
"Think Like A Journalist" by Michael Bugeja
How to fudge statistics to agree with you
Why We Need Science: “I saw it with my own eyes” Is Not Enough by Harriet Hall
The Skeptic's Toolbox
How To Generate Scientific Controversy
How To Monetize Scientific Controversy
"On the Origin of Superstitions" By Jesse Galef
"Summary dismissal"
"Uncertainty in Science: It’s a Feature, Not a Bug" by Julia Galef
"Science is not a democracy: when the wisdom of crowds isn't wise" by Jessica Palmer
"Provably Nonsense, Part II" by Julia Galef
Logical Fallacies:
logicalfallacies.info
More on logical fallacies
"Faulty logic: False Dichotomy" By Barry Leiba
"5 Ways 'Common Sense' Lies To You Everyday" By Geoff Shakespeare
"Faulty logic: Appeal to Authority" By Barry Leiba
LA Times - "Childhood vaccines, autism and the dangers of group think" By JAMES RAINEY
"Faulty logic: Argument ad hominem" By Barry Leiba
"The Ultimate Argument from Authority" By Steven Novella
"Faulty logic: Appeal to Popularity" By Barry Leiba
The "God Of The Gaps" Argument
Argument from Contingency
"The Caveman Fallacy"
"Evidence in Medicine: Correlation and Causation" by Steven Novella
"Causation and Hill’s Criteria" by Mark Crislip
Word Play and Reasoning:
Scientific American - "How Anecdotal Evidence Can Undermine Scientific Results" by Michael Shermer
Anomaly Hunting
"Cranks, quacks, and peer review" by David Gorski
"The Huffington Post’s War On Science" by Steven Novella
“There must be a reason,” or how we support our own false beliefs by David Gorski
"Have You Seen This Clown" by Steven Novella
Science-Based Medicine 101:
"Science-Based Medicine 101: How To Establish A Source’s Credibility" by Val Jones
"Science-Based Medicine 101: Reproducibility" by Val Jones
Brian Dunning - Here Be Dragons: An Introduction To Critical Thinking:
Michael Shermer - The Baloney Detection Kit:
Michael Shermer - Why People Believe Weird Things:
Why eyewitness testimony is a weak form of evidence
here and
here
“The Martian Panic Sixty Years Later: What Have We Learned?” by Robert E. Bartholomew
“Two Mass Delusions in New England” by Robert E. Bartholomew
"What America’s greatest hoax has to teach us about memory" By Michael Rosch
"When testimonials are used in medical advertising" by Orac
Richard Wiseman - colour changing card trick:
Gullible is not in the Dictionary:
"Marketing Psychology" by Steven Novella
COMMON TACTICS USED BY CONSPIRACY THEORISTS, PSEUDOSCIENTISTS, PARANORMALISTS & CRANKS OF ALL KINDS:
The “science was wrong before” Gambit, Galileo Gambit & other anti-intellectualism:
"While Galileo was a rebel, not all rebels are Galileo."
-Norman Levitt
The appeal to “science was wrong before”
"Science has been wrong before" by John Jackson
"The Galileo Gambit" by Orac
"Anti-vaccinationists have their own award, called surprisingly enough (not really) The Galileo Award by anti-vaccinationists
"Andrew Wakefield: The Galileo Gambit writ large in The Observer" by Orac
The Arrogance of Ignorance Gambit:
"The Arrogance of Ignorance"
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool."
-Richard P. Feynman
The Annecdotal Evidence trumps Carefully Controlled Studies Gambit:
Why We Need Science: “I saw it with my own eyes” Is Not Enough by Harriet Hall
The Science is Religion Gambit:
"Science is Just Another Religion!"
"Is Science Just Another Religion?"
"Crank magnetism strikes again" by Orac
The Teach The Controversy (aka Tell Both Sides aka Manufactroversy) Gambit :
Wikipedia - "Teach The Controversy"
"The Manufactured Doubt Industry and the Hacked Email Controversy" by Jeff Masters
LA Times - "Teach The Controversy?" by Michael Shermer
"A Dose of Controversy": More like a dose of equivocation by Orac
"Run, don't walk, away from these Doctors” by Orac
Why do media report 'the other side' of scientific fact? by Haddayr Copley-Woods
Satirical "Teach The Controversey" t-shirts
HOW STATISTICS ARE MISUNDERSTOOD IN THE MEDIA AND SOCIETY:
Lesson on Slanted Surveys and Statistics
Penn & Teller exposing one of their own magic tricks on Muppets Tonight:
The Real Hustle:
SCAMS:
"FBI outlines retooled scams designed to prey upon people's trust and greed" By Kevin Graham
"Top 10 Scams Of 2009" By Mark Huffman
"Senior couple lose thousands of dollars in series of scams" By CASSIE FOSS
More lessons in critical thinking:
A Practical Guide To Critical Thinking
A viable method for teaching critical thinking skills to small children
here. and a video demonstration is
here.
Also,
UK high schools and colleges will be teaching "Anomalistic Psychology," which attempts to explain paranormal and related beliefs and ostensibly paranormal experiences in terms of known psychological and physical factors.
And the best source of all,
Critical Thinking Education Group"
Also see videos from
Parenting Beyond Belief
A short description of common denialist tactics framed around a discussion of Global Warming Denial
Even the very best skeptics can fall victim to logical fallacies. Here are various blogs written in response to flawed thinking by James Randi, the father of the modern skeptical movement.
"James Randi, global warming and the meaning of skepticism" By Massimo Pigliucci
"Say it ain't so, Randi!" by PZ Myers
"Randi responds" by PZ Myers
"Randi, skepticism, and global warming" by Phil Plait
"James Randi, anthropogenic global warming, and skepticism" by Orac
"James Randi, anthropogenic global warming, and skepticism, revisited one last time (I hope)" by Orac
And
here is an example of really, really POOR critical thinking.
