This brief, affordable text helps students to think critically, using examples from the weird claims and beliefs that abound in our culture to demonstrate the sound evaluation of any claim. It explains step-by-step how to sort through reasons, evaluate evidence, and tell when a claim (no matter how strange) is likely to be true. The emphasis is neither on debunking nor on advocating specific assertions, but on explaining principles of critical thinking that enable readers to evaluate claims for themselves. The authors focus on types of logical arguments and proofs, making "How to Think about Weird Things" a versatile supplement for logic, critical thinking, philosophy of science, or any other science appreciation courses.

Table of Contents

Foreword Preface Chapter 1. Introduction: Close Encounters with the Strange The Importance of Why Beyond Weird to the Absurd A Weirdness Sampler Notes Chapter 2. The Possibility of the Impossible Paradigms and the Paranormal Logical Possibility Versus Physical Impossibility The Possibility of ESP Theories and Things On Knowing the Future Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 3. Arguments Good, Bad and Weird Claim and Arguments Deductive Arguments Inductive Arguments Enumerative Induction Analogical Induction Hypothetical Induction (Abduction, or Inference to the Best of Explanation) Informal Fallacies Unacceptable Premises Irrelevant Premises Insufficient Premises Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 4. Knowledge, Belief, and Evidence Babylonian Knowledge-Acquisition Techniques Propositional Knowledge Reasons and Evidence Expert Opinion Coherence and Justification Sources of Knowledge The Appeal to Faith The Appeal to Intuition The Appeal to Mystical Experience Astrology Revisited Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 5. Looking for Truth in Personal Experience Seeming and Being Perceiving: True or False? Perceptual Constancies The Role of Expectation Looking for Clarity in Vagueness The Blondlot Case "Constructing" UFOs Remembering: Do We Revise the Past? Judging: The Habit of Unwarranted Assumptions Denying the Evidence Subjective Validation Confirmation Bias The Availability Error The Representativeness Heuristic Against All Odds The Limits of Personal Experience Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 6. Science and Its Pretenders Science and Dogma Science and Scientism Scientific Methodology Confirming and Confuting Hypotheses Criteria of Adequacy Testability Fruitfulness Scope Simplicity Conservatism Creationism, Evolution, and Criteria of Adequacy Scientific Creationism Intelligent Design Parapsychology Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 7. Case Studies in the Extraordinary The Search Formula Step 1: State the Claim Step 2: Examine the Evidence for the Claim Step 3: Consider Alternative Hypotheses Step 4: Rate, According to the Criteria of Adequacy, Each Hypothesis Homeopathy Intercessory Prayer UFO Abductions Communicating with the Dead Near-Death Experiences Ghosts Study Questions Evaluate These Claims by Using the Search Method Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 8. Relativism, Truth, and Reality We Each Create Our Own Reality Reality Is Socially Constructed Reality Is Constituted by Conceptual Schemes The Relativist's Petard Facing Reality Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Chapter 9. How to Assess a "Miracle Cure" Personal Experience The Variable Nature of Illness The Placebo Effect Overlooked Causes The Doctor's Evidence The Appeal to Tradition The Reasons of Science Medical Research Single Studies Conflicting Results Studies Conflicting with Fact Limitations of Studies Types of Studies In Vitro Experiments Animal Studies Observational Studies Clinical Trials Study Questions Evaluate These Claims Discussion Questions Field Problem Critical Reading and Writing Suggested Readings Notes Credits Index