Discussions

I don’t think I’d be great at this but I would be interested to see where this goes. I mean it would be interesting to see someone try to teach critical thinking techniques now a days and how to be skeptical.

but what are your credentials?

Do you get a tin hat when you join?

.... he said in his best Arnold Horshack voice while waving his hand

Everyone knows aluminum foil is the only way to keep extraterrestrial and radio waves from entering the human brain.

What a load of nonsense. You literally learn critical thinking at school.

I see some of us still have some lessons to learn.

anymore or most have forgotten how too. Most just take what they read on Facebook and other social media site as fact without doing any critical thinking.  
 
But hey, if you read a meme that says "Justin Trudeau is planning to dump deadly Dihydrogen Monoxide into our waterways" and believe it. You need to relearn critical thinking and common sense.

We need to take what we read on facebook and Twitter with a grain of salt and do our own thinking! Most times if a person reads the news about a certain event the correct info in printed. Don't just read the first few lines people! lol

Scientific skepticism is basically how to know what to believe and what to doubt by applying methods of science and reasoning to claims, others and your own.  
Critical thinking is a tool to be a skeptic.  
Skepticism values reliable and valid conclusions over comforting or convenient ones.  
 
I am by no means an expert, skepticism is a journey and I feel I can either go on this journey alone or with a group of like minded individuals which would then evolve to educating the public through a series of presentations, lectures, etc  
 
I hope this answers all your questions.

IMO very few people have good critical thinking skills. I am astounded On a daily basis the degree of poor critical thinking where I work and in the community/social media. Critical thinking is a skill that has to be developed and it takes practice.

times people believe what they read because it confirms their confirmation bias.  
 
People who believe COVID-19 is nothing so they believe anything that confirms that. They do not take the time to do any research from reputable sources. The many times I've tried to refute a post by using reputable sources, it just gets called fake and I'm a sheep.  
 
And my example would get believed by anyone who hates Justin Trudeau since it claims he did something bad. No matter how made up the rest of the claim is.  
 
Sadly common sense and critical thinking both share a lost skill.

they are a lost skill. The complexity of technology, science and general information available to people now is mind boggling. Many people do not have the energy to spend researching topics and take media at face value. However we have always known media to get it wrong many times. There are many many topics that have had the truth skewed. It is a challenge to sift through all the garbage to find the truth.  
 
Edited by Spades!!, 2020-11-15 12:21:17

Why all the questions marks, literally couldn’t think of a good heading.  
Looking for the correct answer for any situation let’s you take the brunt of societies norms. The truth on a lot of things is maybe not hidden, but have to be found, and this involves continuous research from credible sources, and sometimes the results only lead to other questions.  
When this covid virus started I started doing research, every night reading on what researchers where doing in different fields, by the end of April I made a choice about something because the research proved conclusive to me.  
No one gave me a tinfoil hat, but a lot rolled their eyes, and now the drug is licensed in some countries, and the Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation has gotten behind it.  
The country of France is using it for protection of frontline workers.  
I believe in scepticism and critical thinking, but sometimes what you find out leaves you hurting because you can’t answer why some ideas were passed by, and that caused the death of a lot of people.  
I guess if I wasn’t such a jerk I would provide links, but other people can do their research and draw their own conclusion.

people believe news that is absolutely and verifiable false. All because it confirms their bias.

Cherry picking the research has supported a lot of crazy beliefs, caused massive amounts of tax payer's dollars to be spent on false concepts and policy development.  
 
Science/Research does not work this way, yet lots of marketting ploys take advantage of cherry picking the research.  
This leads to a lot of misinformed people.

If you're interested in pursuing this further. I would assume none of us are experts and the world of scientific skepticism is BIG. It would help to get down to basics, study the tools, put them to practice and in the process educate others.  
 
Personally I've been following the 'movement' (for lack of a better word) for a long time but never really truly studied what it means to be a skeptic and practiced the methods.

we just had a perfect example of someone who doesn't use critical thinking.

Are you referring to me as the person who uses no critical thinking, and if so explain.

this other guy who was promoting these anti-mask events. Looks like he's been removed.

I think Trevor was referring to an individual whose post and thread was removed from eBrandon.  
 
I personally find you to be very level headed and a good critical thinker.

You're most welcome to join as well. I have no clue what this would look like at the moment, open to ideas. I can assure you I do not come from a place of using skepticism to believe unverified claims. The opposite actually.  
And yes James Randi was definitely the pioneer, along with Carl Sagan.  
My current favourite skeptics are the SGU (Skeptics guide to the Universe"

listened to SGU for a while, but always loved their podcasts. I also like Skeptoid with Brian Dunning.

is a good resource too, I like listening to Brian's podcacst and videos.  
I recently bought the book "Skeptics guide to the Universe" by the SGU - just started reading, but so far a great primer on skepticism.

Great idea. I’ve often thought they should teach critical thinking to kids in school. Also i:ncluded in the course should be a section on how marketing works. Marketers are always manipulating people to buy their products.

Sorry for being so defensive. Read Trevor’s comment, and thought, here I am promoting something and maybe I overlooked something. When it comes to covid there has been much misinformation and didn’t want to be adding to it.  
The idea of conspiracy issues is real, if one does a lot of reading on a given topic, and eventually finds the truth backed by science, it does lead to the question why a line of thought is being promoted, sometimes it is very evident, sometimes not.  
When it comes to courses on marketing the biggest obstacle is human nature, which is also a problem with critical thinking.

a facebook group, Brandon skeptic society, please feel free to join and we can begin the journey of educating ourselves and discussing topics of skepticism and critical thinking.  
 
And thanks to everyone for your comments on my post, i honestly did expect the response I got  
 
Thanks  
Luke

I'd much rather join the 'Common Sense Society', but I shall digress.