Chapter 4 Flashcards
(16 cards)
Why we should doubt claims:
- If a claim conflicts with our background info, we have good reason to doubt
it - It’s not reasonable to believe a claim when there is no good reasons for doing so
- If a claim conflicts with expert opinion, we have good reason to doubt it
- When there is a disagreement about a claim among relevant experts, we have good reason to doubt it
Appeal to authority:
The fallacy of relying on the opinion of someone deemed to be an expert who in fact is not an expert
Factors that give us good reasons to doubt the reliability of our personal experiences:
- Impairment
- expectation
- Innumeracy
Impairment:
ill, injured, drunk, high, stressed, excited etc.
Expectation:
Waiting for Yazan to call my name, then I hear my phone ring while showering but after I find out no one was actually ringing me. I was expecting a call, so my brain deceived me into thinking that someone (Yazan) is calling me
Innumeracy:
Things are more possible than you think, humans are terrible at estimating probabilities. For example, its prob very rare for this random guy in my bus to have a girlfriend named Sirine from Lebanon, but little do you know its actually possible because everything has a possibility.
Pareidolia:
When we see or hear exactly what we expect,
e.g: I see Sirine’s face in the clouds, or you here demonic messages and sounds If you listen to rock music backwards
Gambler’s fallacy:
The error of thinking that previous events can affect the probabilities in the random event at hand
Ex: I flipped a coin, and it landed on tails 6 times, but the 7nth spin Is still a 50/50 possibility because the coin doesn’t remember how many times it landed on tails
Mistakes when we deal with evidence:
- Resisting contrary evidence:
- Looking for confirming evidence
- Preferring available evidence
Resisting contrary evidence:
Refusing evidence that is clearly presented to us
Looking for confirming evidence:
When we seek out confirming evidence (evidence which helps our case, helps our bias and pov on a subject)
Preferring available evidence:
Availability error, we use and take up evidence that it psychologically impressive or persuasive.
Ex: Someone was stabbed in king station 3 hours ago, so now I think king station is dangerous
Confirmation bias:
The psychological tendency to seek out and remember information that confirms what we already believe
Availability error:
The cognitive bias that makes people tend to rely on evidence not because its trustworthy, but because its memorable or striking.
How to critically analyze someone’s claim on something that is newsworthy?
1- A report that conflicts with expert opinions, or other reliable reports and facts
2- Avoid reporter slanting
3- Consider the source
4- Check for missing information
5- Look for false emphasis
6- Check for alternative news sources
- Identification: If Kylie Jenner likes Pepsi, you should too
- Slogans: I’m lovin it
- Misleading comparisons
- Weasel words: waters down a subtle claim so its technically true
memorize these.
