How to cope with manipulation
Many of us probably know at least one manipulative person — or perhaps we’ve even caught ourselves falling into that category. But do we really know when this tendency to control or influence others becomes harmful? And more importantly, how can we deal with manipulative people?
Appeal to popularity. What explains the popularity of an error?
When we consider that a conclusion is founded only if a lot of people consider it true, we fall into the trap of the argumentum ad populum or the appeal to popularity.
In the world of “what if” | Why we are drawn to counterfactual thinking
The ability to imagine alternatives to events that have already occurred distinguishes humans from other creatures and machines—artificial intelligence has not yet succeeded in creating a device that can devise counterfactual scenarios. The fact that we can travel in an imaginary time and rewrite our actions and their outcomes can prove to be an advantage or can lead to dysfunctional emotional and cognitive...
The applications and pitfalls of critical thinking
Critical thinking is not a cure-all, but it proves very useful in dealing with, clarifying, and solving some decision-making problems, as well as the thought and belief disputes which occupy our minds.
The false dilemma: Are there really only two choices?
The false dilemma fallacy presents an issue as if there are only two ways to solve it—often, two opposite ways—when, in fact, there are more ways than that. The conflict between the two ways presented is also false.
The delicate burden of truth, or how to catch butterflies in a minefield
Even if we have not been to Eden, the longing for innocence draws us back to a time when we had not yet tasted the forbidden fruit.
Appeal to hypocrisy: the trick of pointing the finger
When one wants to justify the harm one has done by saying that others have done the same or that this evil was only a reaction to the harm done by someone else, they commit the logical error of appealing to hypocrisy.
The straw man. An argument the size of a flash in the pan.
The moment we distort a person’s intention, statement, gesture or action for our own personal gain we are using, consciously or unconsciously, the straw man argument − a frequent fallacy.
How to study the Bible properly
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, […] who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Slippery slopes and anxious feet
The fact that we are able to anticipate most of the consequences of our actions is undoubtedly a blessing. However, we can also allow fear or over-cautiousness to make us anticipate events that are not likely to follow. This edges us toward a common error of judgement: the slippery slope.
What is critical thinking and how can one encourage the disposition to use it?
As Christians we are interested in a perpetual spiritual, moral, general human perfecting. But can we really succeed without perfecting our way of thinking, our capacity to understand, and thus without increasing our intellectual capital?
Manipulation: when disinformers believe in us
When we think we are immune to disinformation, we become easy prey for those who manipulate us.
Two false oppositions: reason vs. faith and science vs. religion
"Intelligent, scientifically trained people no longer believe (or can no longer believe) in God."
Circular arguments: a vicious cycle of faulty logic
A circular argument is an argument forming part of a thesis which has not been established, but still needs to be argued for.
The appeal to tradition or the risk of repeating history
In our everyday lives we often resort to simply repeating what has been said or done before. But not everything that is old is authentic or correct. When we refer to tradition with full confidence that the way it was understood and acted on in the past is self-evident, we are committing the logical error of appealing to tradition, or false induction.