There are two behaviors that humans instinctively do. We dutifully reject erroneous details about what we read/see when it is a topic we know. Alternatively, we dutifully accept erroneous details about what we read/see when we do not know much about the topic. These behaviors set us up to be manipulated and misled.
Imagine that you read two stories in a newspaper. The first one is about a sport you have played for 10 years. The story has several major facts wrong. You decide to disregard the story because the author did not know enough to write a competent article. You turn the page and read another article about something you know nothing about. You find it intriguing and were thrilled to learn something new.
Across town, a lady you do not know reads the same two articles. However, her reaction is the opposite. She knew nothing about your sport and believed everything. However, she knew about the topic in the second article and ignored it because many details were wrong.
Do you see what happened? Two incorrect stories were believed as true by two people. You both were misled, but each think you learned something new and accurate, when you did not.
This is called the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. You forgot that what you read in the first article was false and immediately went on to believe the next story. You never questioned if the second article might also contain errors.
The best way to avoid this is to assume whatever you are being told is meant to influence you, not necessarily to teach you something new or present actual facts. Assume you are being manipulated in some way, even if only slightly. Be skeptical and always question. Additionally, seek out alternate sources that you know have different viewpoints than the original source. If the details of the stories match up in the different sources, then it has a higher chance of being true.
Yes, this applies to Mindvax as well. Feel free to question, confirm and rebut anything we write in our lessons. We welcome different points-of-view.
Lesson Directory - https://bit.ly/2QqYrz8
This 30-second video by one of the world's top scientists, Dr. Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996), explains why there is no such thing as "Follow the Science" or "The Science."
Additionally, as stated in one of our lessons on the scientific process (https://bit.ly/3s2KBAW):
"Science is misunderstood because the term is so misused. Let's start with the fact that science is not a thing. It is a process. Science is a specific methodology for asking how and why things function and then developing experiments to test if the predictions (called hypotheses) are correct.
More importantly, science does not give results; experiments do. Therefore, poorly designed experiments produce flawed data. Flawed data are not the fault of science; they are the fault of badly designed experiments. One can only follow the data/results of experiments. Hence, there is no such thing as "following the science."
Each subscriber post is a lesson on a specific skill in critical thinking. In 15 minutes, students learn how to put it immediately into practice.
With Mindvax, students develop a reliable critical thinking system that they instinctively use everyday. It teaches how to analyze information for integrity and accuracy, thereby reducing the influence of misinformation.
Mindvax lessons are written in easy-to-read story form using common real-life scenarios. Students can visualize themselves in the narratives and learn critical thinking application from normal life experiences.
There are 7 sections in most lessons:
Overview
Description of the Skill
Examples
Analysis of Examples using Critical Thinking
Conclusions after Critical Thinking
Specific Recommendations on how to put Lesson into Immediate Practice
Preview of the next Lesson
There are three specialty lesson series that show how to specifically use critical thinking in areas outside of school:
Not Falling For That - Teaches how to identify ...
"The tendency should always be towards the general, and the bias towards self is the beginning of all disorder, in war, politics, economics, in man's individual body." -- Blaise Pascal (French Philosopher 1623 - 62)
Many lectures can given to fully dissect this quote. We would like you to focus on this more simple interpretation: If each person focuses too much only on him/herself, the end result would be societal dysfunction.
Do not confuse this as stating individuals should not have personal goals or exhibit self-interest. Self-interest is what drives one to find what you like most, which you can then contribute to society. However, there is a limit because everyone is different and, to function as a society, there must be some common accepted truths and norms.
Self-interest and selfishness are wholly different, but are often conflated. An example of self-interest is: You have 20 apples and decide to sell 10, give two away free and keep eight for yourself. You profited from the apples and...
"There are no solutions, only trade-offs." - Thomas Sowell
In continuing our profiles of free thinkers, Thomas Sowell is an economist, philosopher and historian who has written 30+ books on many issues. His forte is he examines contentious issues from historical and economic perspectives. He is well-known for explaining how common cultural and political beliefs are actually wrong and have no basis in fact, yet are accepted as conventional wisdom. If he had a motto, it would be that things are rarely what they seem.
The above quote, while based on economic principles, applies to every decision you make. What Sowell wants you to understand is every solution/decision comes with a trade-off or a cost, whether it is acknowledged or not. Instinctively, you know this.
For example, if you decide to go to a party on Friday night, the trade-off is you cannot go to the movies. This is no big deal in simple situations because the trade-off causes no harm to you or others. It does become relevant when ...
