CHAPTER 4PART I4. How can critical thinkers counteract confirmation bias?
A critical thinker should seek information from different sources. An issue at hand is considered from different perspectives and using Six Thinking Hats technique.5 What is an expert?
An expert is a person who can acquire evidence and information that are superior to those of an ordinary person. 6 What should be our attitude toward a claim that conflicts with the expert opinion?
The claim that is inconsistent with the expert advice should not shut down the possibilities that the allegations are untrue. As the law may require we may be forced or use personal intuition to judge between a claim and the expert opinion. 7 What should be our attitude toward an application when experts disagree about it?
When an expert did not agree with a claim, the chances of that claim being true reduces but we still need to maintain the possibilities that the claim may be true. 8 What is the fallacy of the appeal to authority?
This occurs when the subject person is not the legitimate authority. Where the person in question is not entitled to claim. 9 According to the text, in most fields, what are the two minimal prerequisites for being considered an expert?
Prove of study or experienced in the field in which he is called to form an opinion in. 11 under what tree circumstances should we suspect that an expert may be biased?
If the evidence from the expert is unreasonably conflicting with believable truth
If the expert identifies the case with himself
If the expert does not follow all logical and required process in a collection of evidence.
12 When is it reasonable to accept the evidence provided by personal experience?
Personal experience is the best when a situation at hand cannot be simulated or accessed by another witness. For instance, we have no choice but believe a story someone who escaped from alien’s spacecraft.13 What are the two factors that can give us good reason to doubt the reliability of personal experience?
If the person providing the evidence is emotionally or psychologically stable.
If there is no prove that the person providing the evidence has gone through claimed experience 14 What is the gambler’s fallacy?
This is a fallacy that the more an event is repeated; it is more likely that the outcome comes as desired. It is also believed that nature is self-balancing, and if an event happens less frequently today, the frequency will increase in the future and vices verse 15 What are some ways that people resist contrary evidence?
Rejecting all of the evidence altogether
Formulating other stories were relevant to them. 16. What is confirmation bias?
Confirmation bias is a tendency to interpreted, inquire, or remember details in the manner that confirms a person's preexisting hypothesis of beliefs.18 What is the availability error?
The availability error is the modification of one’s reality because of the tendency to remember certain things, people of information, more quickly than others. 19 What is the connection between availability error and hasty generalization?
Availability error is about suddenly remembering some details/subjects quicker than other, and hasty generalization is using the evidence available to use (we can remember) despite it being insufficient to make the judgment. 20 according to the text, other than reporters and editors themselves, what is the foremost factor influencing the quality of news reporting?
Language of the reporter, vocabulary of the journalist's personal connection to the matter being reported
Appeal to ignorance9 The prime minister is lying about his intelligence briefings since almost everyone surveyed in national polls thinks he’s lying.
Syllogisms11 A lot of people think that football jocks are stupid and boorish. That’s a crock. Anyone who had seen the fantastic game that our team played on Saturday, with three touchdowns before halftime, would not believe such rubbish.
Eyewitness/ experience 12 Does acupuncture work? Can it cure disease? Of course. It has been used in China for folk appeal to ignorance Syllogisms16 Gremlins exist, that’s for sure. No scientist has ever proved that they don’t exist.
Appeal to ignorance. 18 Is the Bible divinely inspired? There can be no doubt that it is, for it has been best seller for thousands of years
Appeal to ignorance.20 I believe that baby-carrying storks are real creatures. No one has ever proved that they don’t exist.
Appeal to ignorance.21 Professor, I deserve a better grade than a D on my paper. Look, my parents just got divorced. If they see that I got a D, they will just blame each other, and the fighting will start all over again. Give me a break.
Appeal to the person23 Every player on the team is best in the league. So the team itself is the best in the league.
Appeal to ignorance.
Hasty generalization7 I met these two guys on a plane, and they said they were from Albuquerque. They were total druggies. Almost everyone in that city must be on drugs.
Appeal to ignorance.
8 Some people are fools, and some people are married fools.
, hasty generalization9 Bill is an investment banker, drives a Cadillac, is overweight, and votes Republican. John is also an investment banker, drives a Cadillac, and is overweight. So John probably votes Republican too.
, hasty generalization
Why are experts more likely to be right than non-experts?
Judging whether something is wrong or right is a process of arriving at a moral standard that defines good or bad. While right and wrong may seem an obvious thing, a critical analysis of ethical aspects may some questions unanswered. Right shape morality, create the laws, structure the governments and dictated understanding of what actions are permissible. Right as simple as it may seem cannot be expounded entirely unless it is categorized to fit the instance that we use the word. According to Weiner's literary review of, history and philosophy have helped us categories rights into liberties, Claim, power, and immunities. Regardless of whatever category a right can be, only an expert who understands how human systems deal person's gregarious nature (War, 21015. 4).
Rights may be a reflection of oneself and translating such reflection in the situations of other people. Ethical philosophy has demystified the rule of morality that is defining what is right or wrong. It cannot be said that non-expert cannot know what is right or wrong, but knowledge comes in handy when dealing with matters such as claims, liberties, and entitlements. A non-expert cannot quickly know what freedom would mean in some settings like legal and governance. So an expert with knowledge of what right mean in different situations can quickly judge whether an issue at hand is good or wrong. Although humanity is empathetically reasonable, all that is correct cannot be brought up by social instincts and will require careful thoughts and expertise. Taking for instance what people were living under autocratic government silently give up their liberties not that they don't care but because they don't know if the government is right or they are not aware their rights. An expert can know when something is wrong.
Work cited
Wenar, Leif, "Rights", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2015/entries/rights/
Chapter 5
Why are appeals to tradition fallacious?
Appeals to ignorance, on the other hand, is an argument for or against a posting on grounds that there is no evidence that proves to necessary standard for or against the said position. This can be a fallacy if there is no evidence for conclusion because a lack of proof is not evidence. Where there is a presumption that the proposition is false, it is reasonable to argue from the absence of proof standpointWhat is the burden of proof?
The burden of proving is an obligation for the party in dispute (usually the party that make the allegation) to provide the show that the charge that he makes are warranted or true beyond reasonable doubt. The concept has found itself in the law of tort and is the central principle in which civil disputes are handled across the world. Pre-existing community standards and legislation are usually used to determine the burden of proving. While most people have irrationally categorized Burden of showing as a fallacy, it has a logic position in both law and modern philosophy.
What is the relationship between appeals to ignorance and the burden of proof?
The burden of proving is an obligation for the party in dispute (usually the party that make the allegation) to provide evidence that the claim that he makes are warranted or true beyond reasonable doubt. The concept has found itself in the law of tort and is the central principle in which civil disputes are handled across the world. Pre-existing community standards and legislation are usually used to determine the burden of proving. While most people have irrationally categorized Burden of showing as a fallacy, it has a logic position in both law and modern philosophy. A reasonable suspicion may be a sensible reason to have someone arrested for instance. If the accuser has a reasonable suspicion and makes claims, a negative claim may not be preferred in if they prove of the claim is not substantial. Syllogism, logical proof and mathematical approach can be used to evidence a claim.
Appeals to ignorance, on the other hand, is an argument for or against a posting on grounds that no evidence proves to necessary standard for or against the said position. This can be a fallacy if there is no evidence for conclusion because the lack of proof is not evidence. Where there is a presumption that the proposition is false, it is reasonable to argue from the absence of proof standpoint. It is not a fallacy to conclude that a claim is false because there is no positive evidence. In some instance, some knowledge and basic understandings may guide the decisions based on lack of proof.
The legal community has interrogated the two concepts and as they are part of most law system in the world but their application is guided by other legislation.
