I have been listening to the weekly podcast, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, for the past 12 years, so I was happy to hear that the presenters were publishing a book.
The book starts with a detailed elaboration of core concepts in critical thinking. It discusses the way human beings think, how we know things, and various cognitive biases that make our thinking inaccurate. This is an important section, and the book is worth buying even if you only read this part. Readers will learn how and when to doubt, how to evaluate information, and how to apply this knowledge first and foremost to themselves. The point of being a skeptic is not to find certainty in your own opinions and attack those who hold different opinions, but to be comfortable with uncertainty and subtlety, to be aware that scientific knowledge is provisional, and to approach knowledge with humility.
The next section features stories of the contributors' adventures in skepticism, each choosing a different aspect. Then the book discusses the media and how and why it misrepresents science and enables the promotion of fake and even dangerous opinions. Naturally following from this section are some examples of how pseudoscience can be fatal, not just "harmless" beliefs.
The book concludes with a section on changing yourself and influencing others to be better critical thinkers. Once again, the purpose isn't to win arguments or feel superior, but to approach knowledge and opinions with an open but informed mind, with humility and a willingness to change and admit our mistakes when proven wrong. The podcast and book encourage a gentle attitude to trying to change others, and I agree with this approach.
This is an important book that should become essential reading for any enlightened person, whether interested in science or just in the way we think. It should be translated into other languages. Highly recommended.
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