Customer Reviews

Thinking Critically About New Age Ideas

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This book was used in my Psychology of the Paranormal class. It is a useful tool to help people learn to think critically about thier own thoughts and the thoughts of others. Included within it are basic fallacies, common arguments for the paranormal and against it, and other useful psychological information concerning how we make sense of the world. A must read for anyone serious about examining paranormal phenomena of any kind.

With little over a hundred pages and primarily written as a text for a course on skepticism, this book is deceiving on both these counts.

It is excellently organized, succinctly packed, and is brilliantly written. And most refreshing thing of all - it is neither pedantic nor overbearing. The logic and arguments are presented in layman terms and hence can be an easy introduction to people with no prior skeptical background. People with prior knowledge of the subject would definitely appreciate the insight, strength of arguments, and classification of the wide subject matter presented in a condensed form.

After I read the chapter on how word definitions (mis-)lead people into seemingly unresolvable arguments, I remembered some arguments I witnessed over the years which could have been avoided and peacefully resolved if only the participants knew that their 'language' is not precise and accurate. Hence the author shows skepticism works for us in day to day affairs equally as with strange happennings and claims.

By presenting very simple logic, the author provides insight and solves such seemingly complex problems as the Russell's paradox, without the reader even knowing the "heaviness" of the subject. He effectively uses the same simple arguments to debunk nasty pseudo-scientific claims that are draining our precious energies and resources.

In short this book is a must read for all of us.

While the title says it's about thinking critically about "New Age Ideas", it is much more than that! What a wonderful teacher Mr. Gray is. You hear so often about who has the burden of proof and scientists saying that can't prove negatives on existence claims. He gives many wonderful examples of why it is like this, and also shows that when two criteria are met, why one can prove negatives, but one has to limit the search of the domain, and be descriptive with the terms. He covers the basic fallacies and gives examples. Also recognizes the various statements as empirical, metaphysical, analytical, value, and attitude, and breaks them down to show you what is really being said and what can or cannot be done each statement. This book is very easy to understand, and he keeps it interesting. I was pleasantly surprised, and it remains one of my favorites. My book has the same author and cover as this one, and is published in the same year of 1991, but my publisher is Wadsworth, not Brooks/Cole, so it appears this publisher has added more content since it is 192 pages, compared to mine only having 164 so you'll get extra reading material with this one.