Staying Chill with Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is not just for classrooms but something I have found helpful in dealing with the irrational world around us and some of the… Read More »Staying Chill with Critical Thinking
rationality
Contradictory Sparkleponies
Consistency is King
This past week I attended a meeting of godless heathens, the main topic being the trouble with sparkleponies. Specifically, we discussed the pros and cons of a not-so-new book by former NFL punter Chris Kluwe entitled Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football, and Assorted Absurdities. In the midst of our discussions (mostly negative) and off-hand reviews of the book (thumbs down), the idea for this article occurred to me. This is not a book review. Instead, I’m going to use this book as an example of what NOT to do when trying to present a skeptical, rational or critical point of view.Read More »Contradictory Sparkleponies
Why Cosmos Matters
“Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.” – Carl Sagan
The new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, is airing tomorrow on Fox. I am waiting with baited breath, anticipating great things from its creators and its very intelligent host/narrator, Neil deGrasse Tyson. This show is receiving a great deal of buzz, and rightfully so. It is perhaps the most important “television event” in the last thirty years.Read More »Why Cosmos Matters
Let’s Agree to Disagree
They say that change is the one constant in the universe. I think life is all about change.
Most people are open to change of one kind or another, but don’t stop and give themselves the opportunity to do so. It’s so much easier, it seems, to do what we’ve always done and think how we’ve always thought.Read More »Let’s Agree to Disagree
Converting the Converted
Change is Possible
There’s this funny idea that I’ve heard, usually spoken in a cynical tone, that people can’t or don’t ever change.
This is patently ridiculous as people make important life changes every day. I recently hit the reset button on my life after it was revealed to me that certain religious beliefs I held onto for years were, in fact, totally false. My world view shifted almost 180 degrees to what it used to be. I would have sworn that I would never have given up those beliefs and would never be argued out of them. Yet I changed. And so can anyone else.Read More »Converting the Converted
You Can Handle the Truth!
Why Skepticism?
What is the purpose of critical thinking and skepticism? Why bother to engage in all this mental exercise and hard work?
“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” -Benjamin Franklin
The purpose is not to get you and everyone else to think the same way. There are very few “absolute truths”. Variety is not only the spice of life, it is also the thing that drives life forward and makes it interesting.