A "Baloney Detection Kit" from Carl Sagan
 

https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/0...it-carl-sagan/

This is a great article covering Carl Sagan's thoughts on how to evaluate extraordinary claims, rumors, and findings.

Enjoy,

Rick

Good recap of basic logic in discussion.

I can’t remember all those rules so I have given up arguing, I’ll break several of them once the ego gets wound up. Enjoyed his shows.

Sagan’s “The Demon-Haunted World” is a superb primer on reason and critical thinking.

When they come out with a bratwurst detection kit, let me know... :cool:

There are books, and yes I have read some, that explain bad arguments. I have one I keep by my chair. Don't get all twitchy over the word "argument". It's what lawyers do at trials and collage professors do when educating. Most anything can be learned. And so can understanding arguments. A bad argument doesn't mean it's from a dumb or bad malicious person. Necessarily. Though they are often misdirecting the logic from the point being made.

True enough regarding the word argument which really just means that person's point of view and, hopefully, the reasoning behind it. It's been interesting watching society (esp in the USA) which long viewed disagreements with "your argument (and/or your reasoning) is bad" to "YOU are a bad person for thinking that way" over the past several years.

I really miss Carl Sagan - he helped make it acceptable, even *cool* to think critically and keep searching for better knowledge.

And the excerpt from Pale Blue Dot is classic:
https://www.planetary.org/explore/sp...-blue-dot.html