Uploaded byJames FitzGerald
Cap 233 critical_thinking_evaluating_info
This document discusses critical thinking skills and cognitive biases. It begins with an overview and disclaimers about critical thinking. Then it analyzes an Enzyte commercial, pointing out that the product's claims were unsupported and its president was later convicted of fraud. The document outlines logical errors like anecdotal evidence and ad hominem attacks. It also explains cognitive biases people fall prey to, such as confirmation bias, change blindness, and selective attention. It emphasizes being skeptical of claims and asking for evidence, as people are prone to faulty thinking. The goal is to help students evaluate information more effectively.
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Cap 233 critical_thinking_evaluating_info
- 1. CAP 233 CriticalThinking & Evaluating Info
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- 3. What are wedoing? Watch a commercial! Talk about critical thinking, evaluating info & skepticism! Look at problems people have processing information--logical errors & cognitive biases
- 4. Disclaimers Critical thinking &evaluating info are complex subjects! Your professors are (presumably) experts at thinking critically within their field! evaluating information can take many forms--my examples & suggestions are not exhaustive
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- 6. Questions about Enzyte How manyof you have seen this commercial?! What does this product do?! What evidence do you have to confirm that Enzyte does what it claims?! What evidence do you have to refute this?
- 7. FDA Enforcement Actions Steven Warshak,president of the company that made Enzyte, was charged in a 112 count indictment.! Found guilty of a number of crimes & sentenced to 25 years, $93k fine, $503 million forfeiture.! His mother, Harriet was sentenced to 2 years! (though it was later reduced because of age & poor health)! How many of you knew any of this?
- 8. Caveat Emptor "Buyer beware"! Ifit seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- 9. Logical Errors Anecdotal Evidenceaka Story Telling! Ad Hominem or as I like to call it "shoot the messenger"! After-the-fact aka "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc" aka correlation /= causation! Argument from Authority
- 10. Anecdotal Evidence aka StoryTelling Supporting an argument or claim using a very small sampling, like a personal story (e.g. "My father smoked & drank & ate horrible food but lived until he was 102!")! Logically and scientifically, anecdotes don't prove anything. They may just represent an outlier or an exception to the normal pattern.! Eye-witness testimony is a form of anecdotal evidence that is used in legal proceedings.
- 11. Ad Hominem aka "shootthe messenger" Attacking the person instead of their argument.! John: "I am pro-choice with regards to abortion. The constitution implies a right to privacy and a woman's reproductive choices are clearly private." Jane: "You would believe that because you're a godless Democrat!"! The person making a claim does not NECESSARILY have anything to do with the claim itself.
- 12. After-the-fact aka "Posthoc, ergo propter hoc" aka correlation /= causation "After this, therefore because of this." (e.g. "I prayed for the Yankees to win and then they did.")! Just because one event preceded the other does not logically prove that one CAUSED the other. (Maybe the other team just sucked?)
- 13. Argument from Authority Relying onexpert opinion (my parents taught me, my teachers told me, etc.).! Can be a double-edged sword.! An authority on one subject is not an expert on other subject. (e.g. would you ask your doctor for relationship advice?)! Have you ever known a highly educated person to be wrong?
- 14. Cognitive Biases "Seeing TheWorld As it Isn't"! Confirmation Bias! Change Blindness-The "Door" Study! Gambler's Fallacy! Selective Attention
- 15. Seeing The Worldas it Isn't
- 16. Confirmation Bias "tendency tosearch for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors."! Be especially careful when doing research to look for alternative explanations and if you disagree with them, explain why. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/confirmation_bias.htm
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- 18. Gambler's Fallacy Imagine Ijust flipped a coin 5 times and it came up heads every time.! How much money would you bet that it will turn up tails next time? http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent- you-from-being-rational
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- 20. Why am Itelling you this?
- 21. Why am Itelling you this? Because you need to be skeptical.! "Skepticism is the rigorous application of science and reason to test the validity of any and all claims." - Michael Shermer! "Show me."-Ask for evidence.
- 22. Conclusions Humans are proneto logical errors, cognitive biases, and faulty thinking.! Be skeptical & ask questions because people aren't as smart as they think they are.! Be humble & embrace doubt because you don't know as much as you think you do.
- 23. What you needto do this week... Finish Quiz 3 if you haven't already done so.! TBD-I will figure out how to adjust the remainder of the semester so we get some of our goals met without stressing you out.