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{"id":408,"date":"2007-05-07T20:56:44","date_gmt":"2007-05-08T01:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blog\/daylightatheism\/how-to-think-critically\/"},"modified":"2014-02-06T02:27:02","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T02:27:02","slug":"how-to-think-critically","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daylightatheism\/series\/how-to-think-critically\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Think Critically"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

How to Think Critically I: Extraordinary Claims<\/a> (March 30, 2007<\/i>)
\nAssertions should be examined with greater skepticism in proportion to the amount of previously established knowledge they contradict.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically II: Salience<\/a> (May 22, 2007<\/i>)
\nMost people consistently overestimate the probabilities of rare events and underestimate the probabilities of common events.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically III: Randomness<\/a> (July 28, 2007<\/i>)
\nA failure to grasp statistical principles of randomness and chance leads people to develop all kinds of superstitious beliefs.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically IV: Falsifiability and the Burden of Proof<\/a> (November 30, 2007<\/i>)
\nPeople who make positive claims have the obligation to support them with evidence, and we should never believe claims that cannot be tested.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically V: Double-Blind Tests<\/a> (December 29, 2007<\/i>)
\nThe double-blind experimental method is an invaluable way to weed out human preconception and bias.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically VI: Bayes\u2019 Rule<\/a> (February 22, 2008<\/i>)
\nThe mathematical principle called Bayes\u2019 rule is a tool for assessing conditional probabilities, which people are usually not very good at estimating by intuition.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically VII: Risk Assessment<\/a> (May 30, 2008<\/i>)
\nSeveral simple rules of thumb help to counteract common faults in human beings\u2019 judgment of risk.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically VIII: Mills\u2019 Methods<\/a> (August 27, 2008<\/i>)
\nPhilosopher John Stuart Mill\u2019s five rules for rational thought are still worthwhile and useful today.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically IX: Testimonials<\/a> (December 26, 2008<\/i>)
\nAlthough testimonials are nearly worthless as evidence, humans continue to be swayed by them.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically X: Memory & Confabulation<\/a> (March 28, 2009<\/i>)
\nHuman memory is basically reconstructive, and as such, often falls victim to subconscious priming and leading questions.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically XI: The Null Hypothesis<\/a> (October 29, 2010<\/i>)
\nThe assumption of chance prevents us from being deceived by spurious and imaginary connections between unrelated events.\n<\/li>\n
How to Think Critically XII: Anchoring<\/a> (December 1, 2010<\/i>)
\nThe brain\u2019s tendency to use the first number it sees as a basis for all subsequent estimates is well-known and widely exploited by marketers.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to Think Critically I: Extraordinary Claims (March 30, 2007) Assertions should be examined with greater skepticism in proportion to the amount of previously established knowledge they contradict. How to Think Critically II: Salience (May 22, 2007) Most people consistently overestimate the probabilities of rare events and underestimate the probabilities of common events. How to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1308,"featured_media":0,"parent":4091,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-408","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Think Critically - Daylight Atheism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to Think Critically I: Extraordinary Claims (March 30, 2007) Assertions should be examined with greater skepticism in proportion to the amount of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daylightatheism\/series\/how-to-think-critically\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Think Critically - Daylight Atheism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to Think Critically I: Extraordinary Claims (March 30, 2007) Assertions should be examined with greater skepticism in proportion to the amount of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daylightatheism\/series\/how-to-think-critically\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daylight Atheism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-06T02:27:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daylightatheism\/series\/how-to-think-critically\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daylightatheism\/series\/how-to-think-critically\/\",\"name\":\"How to Think Critically - 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