How To Be A Critical Thinker
Critical and Creative Thinking: The Case of Love and War
by Carole Wade, Ph.D. and Carol Tavris, Ph.D.
HarperCollins 1993 Pb. 159pp. $9.00
This engaging and thought-provoking gem is a "guide that can
help you to evaluate claims and arguments, make decisions and
judgments based on information and evidence, and defend the
positions you take." The authors apply these critical thinking
principles to two important issues--love and war--by questioning
the stereotypes and examining the actual research evidence. Their
analysis of intimate relationships is a refreshing contrast to
the simplistic platitudes of the pop psych circuit. Includes
exercises to get you thinking as well as a bibliography.
Conversations with Critical Thinkers
edited by John Esterle and Dan Clurman
Whitman Institute 1993 Pb. 158pp. $9.00
This fascinating set of nine interviews with experts focuses
on the personal and practical aspects of critical thinking. The
interviewees, including Wade and Tavris, as well as Richard Paul,
Director of the Center for Critical Thinking, discuss their views
on critical thinking and how it applies to everyday life.
Clear Thinking: A Practical Introduction
by Hy Ruchlis (with Sandra Oddo)
Prometheus 1990 Pb. 271pp. $17.95
This lively introduction to the basic principles of critical
analysis by a former science teacher shows how to evaluate
evidence, isolate facts, and use sound reasoning skills in
everyday life situations.
Why People Believe Weird Things:
Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
by Michael Shermer
W.H. Freeman, 1997 Hd. 306pp. $22.95
Why do some people believe in ghosts, alien abductions, past-lives
regression and other flaky, space cadet stuff? Why in an age of science are
ideas without scientific support so widely held? These are some of the
questions that Skeptic Society director and science historian Michael
Shermer addresses in his new book. As with everything I've seen him do,
Shermer has done a terrific job - the book is well-done, well-written,
thoughtful, accessible and very, very useful.
How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reasoning in Everyday Life
by Thomas Gilovich
Free Press 1991 Pb. 194pp. $15.95
A thorough examination of common mistakes in reasoning and
inference that is solidly based on research by social and cognitive
psychologists, this book analyzes the cognitive, motivational,
and social origins of questionable beliefs and suggests ways to
improve our evaluation of the evidence of everyday life. Specific
topics where faulty reasoning is rampant (e.g., ESP and
interpersonal strategies) are explored in depth.
Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds
by Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini
John Wiley 1994 Pb. 209pp. $15.95
An exploration by a renowned cognitive scientist of the cognitive
illusions that lead to inevitable errors in thinking. An
intellectual adventure through the perils of "probability blindness,"
"magical thinking," the fallacy of near certainty and the
"seven deadly mental sins."
Dumbth: And 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter
by Steve Allen
Prometheus Press 1989 Pb. 359pp. $15.95
Observations about American muddleheadness and incompetency
("dumbth") with 81 suggestions for critical thinking. Sensible
ideas written for a general audience in Allen's characteristic
lively, humorous style.
The Art of Deception: An Introduction to Critical Thinking
by Nicholas Capaldi
Prometheus Pb. 232pp. $16.95
In-depth analysis of informal logic to show how it can be used
to win arguments.
Two Hundred Per Cent of Nothing
An Eye-Opening Tour Through the Twists and Turns of Math Abuse and Innumeracy
by A.K. Dewdney
John Wiley & Sons Hd. 182pp. $19.95
An engaging but solidly written book that teaches you the simple
skills and basic logic necessary to protect yourself against
misusing statistics or from becoming a victim of math and statistics
misuse.