Noteworthy, 12 December 2012

Ed Clint's recent post on his IncrEDulous blog, Why teaching critical thinking fails, argues that while critical thinking skills can be taught, doing so is not enough to turn people into critical thinkers.

The Sinking of the Titanic

We’ve hit an iceberg, and there is confusion, hysteria, and not enough life boats to save us all.

With respect to respect

"Everyone deserves respect!"

"No, respect must be earned!"

Sigh. I get tired of hearing exchanges like this, especially when they are presented as prescriptive moral or ethical guidance. As usual, the reality and the ethics are more complicated than that.

Some much-needed discussion

There has been quite a bit of activity in the blogosphere and on Twitter and Facebook in recent weeks on two subjects that our regular reader(s) know have been topics of concern to Ardent Skeptic and me.

Noteworthy, 08 July 2012

Advice for a 'Freethought' blog, by Notung, has advice that skeptic bloggers should consider as well.

Noteworthy, 17 May 2012

Steve Cuno has a new post up on his personal blog that's worth a look: The Value of Dissent. And while welcoming informed alternative points of view is useful for everyone, it is essential for skeptics.

Noteworthy, 09 May 2012

This is from last week, but in case you missed it, Barbara Drescher has an excellent post about skepticism on her blog: You Can't Judge an Argument by its Conclusion.

An Open Letter on Disagreement

by Steve Cuno

Author’s note: The inspiration for this article was an angry note from a friend. Any attempt to guess which friend or to point fingers risks missing a great opportunity to see if the shoe fits.

Dear Friend:

Disagreement is inevitable. When it happens, let’s see if we can handle it sans ad hominem attacks.

Noteworthy, 11 Mar 2012

Steve Cuno has a new post up on his personal blog: The Art of the Dodge

Noteworthy, 08 Mar 2012

Ben Radford has a new post up on the CFI blog: Rush Limbaugh, Being a Dick, and Skepticism

Noteworthy, 16 Feb 2012

• Steve Cuno has a new post up on the JREF Swift blog on how easy it is to switch off critical thinking: The Care and Feeding of Homunculi
• This week's episode of Skeptoid covers some common types of reasoning errors.

Delicate Balance

by Steve Cuno

In Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer describes his experience as the “guest skeptic” on a program for NBC. The other guests claimed to have experienced a close encounter of the third kind. He writes that after the taping, he and they went out for dinner and talked about...

Noteworthy, 18 Jan 2011

• Steve Cuno has a new post up on the JREF Swift blog: How to Sabotage Skepticism from the Inside: Entwine the Claim with the Cause
• Steve also recently posted this on his personal blog: Denying human nature is no way to fight racism

A picture of Internet wildlife

by human nature photographer A. Skeptic

A huge flock, honking and flapping their wings, but going nowhere.

In Which I Admit to a Bias

by K.O. Myers

I generally eschew the annual ritual of New Year's resolutions. If I don't have the mental discipline to positively alter my character or behavior in June, I'm not sure how passage from one arbitrarily demarcated solar orbit to another is supposed to provide the necessary willpower. If the psychological signpost of the beginning of a new year affords you sufficient impetus to tack toward a course of self-improvement, you have my sincere congratulations. I've never found it particularly motivating.^*