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Carl Sagan on "baloney detection", & critical thinking guide
Posted by  JanetK_CA of CA on 12/27/22 3:02am Msg #82184
"For all that we know..."

Those are very important key words that often come just before a pundit, politician, random blogger (or billionaire 'influencer') says some kind of wild accusation, conjecture, or untruth. It should be a red flag for whatever comes after that phrase.

Another trick some use is to ask a question implying some falsehood without actually stating it (e.g. "What if..."). They strongly infer the lie while carefully parsing their choice of words so they can maintain deniability. Technically, they haven't actually claimed the misstatement to be true (they just asked a question, after all), but they've accomplished their purpose and left people believing it's so. If there were any truth or evidence behind the implication, it would have been provided, although some *claim* proof without ever giving any specifics that would allow it to be verified.


This is all probably a waste of time, but just in case, here's (hopefully) an article about "baloney detection" from a brilliant thinker (who is sadly long gone) whom I've admired since my early college days:

http://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-baloney-detection-kit-carl-sagan-s-rules-for-bullshit-busting-and-critical-thinking?sponsored=0&position=11&scheduled_corpus_item_id=d4638c12-3561-4ee6-9cf7-897721a73c4f

Cable TV and social media are full of examples of all the "pitfalls of common sense" listed there from Mr. Sagan's book... Wink
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Messages in this Thread
 I knew there was more to the story! - shooterclay on 12/16/22 7:36pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! -  Yoli/CA on 12/17/22 12:22pm
 congrats n/m - sigtogo/OR on 12/17/22 1:50pm
 You win the prize for most inane, ignorant JP post of 2022 n/m - sigtogo/OR on 12/17/22 1:51pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - MikeC/TX on 12/17/22 3:57pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - shooterclay on 12/21/22 2:49pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - PaigeTurner on 12/21/22 3:30pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - MikeC/TX on 12/22/22 5:28pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - PaigeTurner on 12/23/22 2:12pm
 Carl Sagan on "baloney detection", & critical thinking guide -  JanetK_CA on 12/27/22 3:02am
 Re: Carl Sagan on "baloney detection", & critical thinking guide - MikeC/TX on 12/28/22 10:22pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - MikeC/TX on 12/28/22 10:16pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - PaigeTurner on 12/29/22 10:16pm
 Re: I knew there was more to the story! - PaigeTurner on 12/18/22 3:06pm
 Right there with you! n/m - shooterclay on 12/21/22 2:49pm



 
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