How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age 2nd Edition

by Theodore Schick (Author), Lewis Vaughn (Author)

62 ratings

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mayfield Pub Co; 2nd edition (October 1, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0767400135
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0767400138
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.5 x 6.25 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,694,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,719 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)
- #6,686 in Unexplained Mysteries (Books)
- #7,797 in Parapsychology (Books)

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62 ratings

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A Commanding Examination of Rational Thinking

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2009

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One cannot avoid thinking, sidestep decision making, nor elude the bombardment of poor logic and irrationality so abundant in society. It makes perfect sense to learn to become as clear a thinker and decision maker as possible. Schick and Vaughn, in their Critical Thinking masterpiece "How to Think About Weird Things" dive head first into the fundaments of rational thought, the aspects of human nature that produce irrationality, and the means to think as productively as possible. Ripe with examples from absurd lines of thinking to common complex fallacies, the book covers all pertinent aspects of critical thinking.

Put best in their own words on page 2, the authors state:

"You hear a lot of `whats', but seldom any good `whys'. You hear the beliefs, but seldom any solid reasons behind them - nothing substantial enough to indicate that these assertions are likely to be true. You may hear naiveté, passionate advocacy, fierce denunciation, one-sided sifting of evidence, defense of the party line, leaps of faith, jumps to false conclusions, plunges into wishful thinking, and courageous stands on the shaky ground of subjective certainty. But the good reasons are missing. Without good `whys', our beliefs are simply arbitrary, with no more claim to knowledge than the random choice of a playing card. Without good `whys' to guide us, our beliefs lose their value in a world where beliefs are already a dime a dozen."

While this thinking may not resonate with everyone, the reality is that it should. If society as a whole shifted to more rational thought and a consistent standard of scrutiny among all beliefs, there would be a lot less friction on this planet and a lot more level headed views. How to Think About Weird Things offers a comprehensive overview of rational thinking aimed at causing such a positive shift, and thus I recommend this book to any serious thinker.

6 people found this helpful

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Bucherwurm

Must Read For The Layman Interested In Science

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 1999

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If you are a layman like myself with an interest in reading about science, this is a basic book in the philosophy of science that will aid in the rational analysis of scientific claims. Naturally the book wouldn't sell too many copies if the word "Philosophy" ended up in the title so we have this cutesy title that unfortunately may not give sufficient clues as to what is inside.
My wife is a believer in all things paranormal, and I am a true skeptic with an education in experimental psychology. We have a shaky truce in our house about these issues, and I have developed an intense interest in the claims made in astrology, channeling, ESP, NDE and the like.
This book lays out the logic for analyzing claims made in the name of science or the paranormal. We are told first of all that knowledge without evidence is not knowledge; it may constitute a belief, but it is not knowledge. What is reliable evidence? What is objective truth? What is the value of anecdotal evidence? What are the criteria of adequacy for a hypothesis? How is a scientific study properly set up? What sort of studies can establish the effectiveness of a medical treatment beyond a reasonable doubt?
The author discusses all of this and more as he applies the logic learned to medicine, dowsing, astrology, ESP, Channeling, and even UFO abductions. Its an informative, entertaining book that will educate without boring you or even making your poor brain work overtime. If nothing else you can read the book, and impress (or bore) your friends by telling them you just read a book on applied epistemology.

31 people found this helpful

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Oscar Bonilla

Excellent book on critical thinking

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2008

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Not only is this book really informative, it's also entertaining. It goes through most of the 'weird' stories that you have probably heard. Stories like the monster of loch ness, bigfoot, near-death experiences, mediums, haunted houses, etc. And it analyzes each of these claims with a framework built on top of logic and the scientific method.

The authors do a pretty good job of giving each of these issues a fair treatment. E.g. they don't claim that UFOs are non-existant, or impossible to exist. They just claim that for the set of phenomena reported as UFOs, there are other, simpler, explanations.

Somewhere in the book it says "The more a theory contradicts your existing beliefs, the more suspicious you should be of it" (paraphrasing). What I'm driving at is that if you have a lot of beliefs about weird things, like ESP, etc. you will find a lot of the things in this book hard to swallow. If you're already a skeptic you'll be nodding your head a lot.

However, if you believe in something and are trying to convince someone else to believe it too, the tools in this book are probably the only ones that will accomplish the deed.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Required as a textbook for class

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018

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I took Weird behavior in college and this was one of our textbooks

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Sri Ahimsa

Thinking Weird things

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2013

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What a Hoot. I loved the book and the ideas other people came up with. Some ideas are weird, but some are just plain crazy. If I stray into "CRAZY" I hope a friend or two will make a comment.

Best to everyone!

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TaGenuis

The book is exactly how the title describes it

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2013

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You can either think about weird things and let it bother you or you can analyze it. This book was a fun read and worth the purchase. Also, it was a textbook for a philosophy class.

One person found this helpful

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Je

A must read for anyone wanting to be able to think clearly in a confusing world.

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2021

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Very accessible

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2015

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opened my eyes

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arronax

An excellent work in critical thinking. Great for students.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2009

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I was recommended this book buy someone who was helping me improve my academic writing skills.
I have, in the past, taken compulsory classes on critical thinking without ever getting much out of them. But critical thinking is an essential skill for anyone looking to be successful in business, science, academia - the list goes on.

The difference with this book is that a find it more accessible and instead of just bashing the "weird things" it truly objectively looks at them whilst introducing you to key concepts and terminology.
The book points out the weakness of both people who propose and try to refute certain claims, this is a huge strength.

In short if you want to improve your reasoning/logic/critical thinking abilities, especially if you have had trouble with formalised teaching of this subject this book is very likely to help.

5 people found this helpful

agapephileo777

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2016

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Mentally stimulating book, helps us think critically. Somethings that happen to us in life cant be explained away.

David Harry White

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2016

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Excellent.

Kevin Ian Cottrell

Phew, that was good fun

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2015

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This book does require work to get the best from it. But it is worth it the effort.
Small size means it is succinct but with just enough real world examples to make it comprehensible.
It has changed my view on a number of issues.
If you like you books to get to the point then this is the one.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

A great read but only part-way there....

Reviewed in Canada on October 23, 2016

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Clearly a university textbook but a great read for anyone interested in demystifying strange occurrences and conspiracy theories. Shows how extraordinary hypotheses need extraordinary proofs and how our minds are too easily persuaded by unsupported arguments such as pure wishful thinking leading to faith beliefs without a shred of evidence. However, in my opinion the book evades the obvious criticism of religious beliefs except to mention that the Catholic Church still endorses the idea that the devil can enter a person's mind and that miracles are God's will based on the fact that no natural explanation is forthcoming. I recommend Christopher Hitchin's book "God is not great" as a logical follow-on.

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How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age 2nd Edition

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