I’ll be teaching critical thinking next month (September). Learn some easy tools of Bayesian reasoning, how to spot and correct for cognitive biases, how to reason logically and avoid and detect fallacies, and how to better question your decisions and beliefs in constructive ways. Skills everyone should have and hone! And that you might be able to teach to your fellow citizens in the coming dark years.
I also want students to propose and discuss in this class the critical thinking skills they think they and everyone should adopt.
The course text will be Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies, New Academic Edition, by Bo Bennett. Get your copy now!
And register today! Class starts September 1.
Or spread the word. Tell any of your friends or contacts who might be interested. Lots of people will want to hone their knowledge and skills in this domain. And this class is all about helping people do that, and very affordably.
Learn the basics you need in logic, cognitive science, and reasoning about probability, to be a better, sharper thinker, about everything that matters in your life!
Here is the official course description…
Richard Carrier (Ph.D., Columbia University) will provide instruction and advice on the new skills now needed to become a good critical thinker in the 21st century in his new course “Critical Thinking in the 21st Century: Essential Skills Everyone Should Master” during December 2016.
Based on Dr. Carrier’s acclaimed presentation for the Secular Student Alliance, this course will:
- Teach students standard skills in traditional logic and fallacies.
- Cover cognitive biases and how to detect & avoid them, including motivated reasoning and the political brain.
- Bayes’ Theorem, and Bayesian problem solving, for the non-mathematician, and other skills in reasoning about probability.
- Learning how to see things from someone else’s perspective.
- Useful skills of self-examination, self-critique, and personal improvement in thinking & reasoning, for personal belief development and the acquisition of lifelong wisdom.
Each student will be left with a whole toolbox of ideas and information to work with, which will make them sharper thinkers in every domain. You will also get to ask any questions you’ve ever had on the subject, of an expert with decades of experience studying and applying these skills. And be introduced to helpful resources on critical thinking knowledge that you can bookmark and continue to use.
You can register for the class here.
You can procure the required course text here (print or kindle).
All other materials will be provided.
Study and participate on your own time. And participate as much or as little as you want.
It’s off topic, and I am not a Patron, but I was wondering if you are planning to review “God’s Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts” by Brent Nongbri?
I had no plans to. Why?
Well, I was led to this book by an article I was reading and looked it up on Amazon, where they say, “A provocative book from a highly original scholar, challenging much of what we know about early Christian manuscripts
In this bold and groundbreaking book, Brent Nongbri provides an up-to-date introduction to the major collections of early Christian manuscripts and demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about these books and fragments is mistaken. While biblical scholars have expended much effort in their study of the texts contained within our earliest Christian manuscripts, there has been a surprising lack of interest in thinking about these books as material objects with individual, unique histories. We have too often ignored the ways that the antiquities market obscures our knowledge of the origins of these manuscripts.
Through painstaking archival research and detailed studies of our most important collections of early Christian manuscripts, Nongbri vividly shows how the earliest Christian books are more than just carriers of texts or samples of handwriting. They are three-dimensional archaeological artifacts with fascinating stories to tell, if we’re willing to listen.
I thought it would be of use in discussions, but also wondered about the level of accessibility to us laymen of the material and if you agree or disagree with his methodology and conclusions. It’s not cheap – even in Kindle – and before I invested in it, I thought I’d see if it was on your radar for an upcoming review.
Thanks.
Noted. I’ll consider it. But it’s not a top priority (I have a lot of other things patrons are asking for or expect other than that). I recommend in the meantime the review of Dr. Candida Moss, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame.
Yes. That’s where I came across the reference. If you are indicating that her synopsis carries sufficient weight, I respect that.
I do, yes. I think her analysis appears apt. It indicates the book is approachable to lay readers, and well-argued and researched. Whether there is anything in the book I’d disagree with I can’t say. But when I get around to perusing it I’ll know.
Thanks, Richard.