How to become a really good pain in the ass : a critical thinker's guide to asking the right questions Cover Image

Book

How to become a really good pain in the ass : a critical thinker's guide to asking the right questions / Christopher DiCarlo.

DiCarlo, Christopher, 1962- (Author).

Summary:

In this guide to critical thinking the author provides you with the tools to allow you to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what they are talking about. These days there are many people whom we need to question: politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy members, bankers, car salesmen, and your boss. This book will empower you with the ability to spot faulty reasoning and, by asking the right sorts of questions, hold people accountable not only for what they believe but how they behave. By using this book you will learn to analyze your own thoughts, ideas, and beliefs, and why you act on them (or don't). This, in turn, will help you to understand why others might hold opposing views. And the best way to change our own or others' behavior or attitudes is to gain greater clarity about underlying motives and thought processes. In a media-driven world of talking heads, gurus, urban legends, and hype, learning to think more clearly and critically, and helping others to do the same, is one of the most important things you can do.

Record details

ISBN: 9781616143978 (pbk.)
ISBN: 1616143975 (pbk.)
ISBN: 9781616143985 (ebook)
ISBN: 1616143983 (ebook)
Physical Description: 398 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Publisher: Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2011.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-381) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Why become a really good pain in the ass? -- The Tools of the Trade: the ABCs and (DEFs) of Critical Thinking. A is for argument ; B is for biases ; C is for context: time, place, and circumstance ; D is for diagramming ; E is for evidence ; F is for fallacies -- The Best Damn Pains in the Ass in History. The method of Socrates and the modes of the ancient Skeptics -- Answering the Big Five. Preamble ; What can I know? ; Why am I here? ; What am I? ; How should I behave? ; What is to come of me?