#WWB Critical Thinking
What is the difference between a heuristic and a cognitive bias?
Heuristics are natural mental shortcuts that speed decisions. Cognitive biases are ingrained thinking errors. Both are reinforced by experience. Both help us move forward quickly, ...
What is the cherry picking logical fallacy?
Logical Fallacies < TST Framework < Critical Thinking
Is it logical to vote for a candidate based on just one issue?
Focusing on a single issue can feel logical, but it risks cherry-picking. When you do it, just be aware that you are simplifying complex decisions.
Is there evidence for other dimensions?
There is no empirical evidence for other dimensions—only mathematical speculation and theoretical exploration.
What are social constructs and how do they apply to AI?
Social constructs are human-made rules, and AI will either inherit their flaws or help us outgrow them.
How do we know bloodletting doesn’t work?
Bloodletting survived for millennia not because it worked, but because humans mistook timing for causation.
How do slippery slope arguments manipulate people?
Slippery slope arguments manipulate by replacing evidence with fear, implying inevitability without proving the steps in between.
How do I know what is true and what is just an opinion?
Evidence. Inductive reasoning is evidence based; abductive reasoning is a best guess from limited evidence.
Why are invalid fear-based arguments so effective?
Logical Fallacies < Four Mind Traps < TST Framework < Critical Thinking
Why do people believe wrong things?
People don’t seek information to discover truth—they seek reassurance that they’re already right.
Can a fat, out of shape person give valid nutritional advice?
Good advice doesn’t become wrong because the person giving it fails to follow it. Truth stands or falls on evidence, not appearances.
Is anecdotal evidence ever useful to prove something?
Anecdotal evidence can show something exists, but it cannot prove broad claims on its own.
Is the Big Bang singularity scientific or philosophical?
The singularity is more philosophical. While the universe's expansion is scientific, the singularity itself remains speculative and unproven.
Did most humans live in caves 30,000 years ago?
Despite popular belief, we did not spend a lot of time in caves. We do find lots of artifacts in caves, and we tend focus ...
If evolution is true, why haven’t humans evolved in 50,000 years?
Humans have evolved in the last 50,000 years, just not into a new “species."
Is the idea of superposition multiple states irrational?
Superposition describes multiple possible states mathematically; treating those possibilities as simultaneously real is a speculative interpretation.
What is the difference between a true believer, an empiricist, and a true skeptic?
The empiricist stands between dogma and paralysis—open to revision, grounded in evidence.
What is a straw man fallacy and how can I avoid it?
A straw man fallacy replaces a real argument with a weaker version, making it easier to attack but harder to reach truth.
If your friends are bad, are you bad?
Judging people by association rather than evidence confuses proximity with character. That's the guilt by association fallacy.
Is Terrance Howard correct when he says zero does not exist?
Zero represents the absence of a quantity, not the existence of metaphysical nothingness.