Is Arguing Critical Thinking?

Arguing your point is not critical thinking, that’s a competitive debate. Critical thinking is the ongoing [open ended] objective discovery of truth in a systematic fashion, and requires standards of thought, various tools and methodologies of inquiry, and a myriad of character traits that places the pursuit of truth above personal feelings and biases. However, arguing is usually engaged in because of biases and emotional attachments to particular outcomes that […] Read more »

Astroturf and Manipulation of Media Messages | TedX

Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative journalist based in Washington D.C. She is currently writing a book entitled Stonewalled (Harper Collins), which addresses the unseen influences of corporations and special interests on the information and images the public receives every day in the news and elsewhere. For twenty years (through March 2014), Attkisson was a correspondent for CBS News. In 2013, she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for […] Read more »

The Mandela Effect – Do We Live in a Simulation?

The scientist who blew the whistle on the Mandela Effect claimed that we were living in a simulated reality.  Nick Bostrom, Elon Musk, Bank of America, and many others have insinuated that we may indeed live in a simulation.  What exactly does that entail, and what are the implications? Read more »

Reasoned Judgment or a Judgmental Attitude?

What many associate with judgment is based on the common interpretation of Jesus in Matthew 7, when he said “Do not judge lest you also be judged”.  Unfortunately, they throw the baby out with the bathwater, and avoid using their critical thinking to make reasoned judgments.  I delve into what exactly reasoned judgment is, and how it is different from being judgmental.  If this is something that interests you, than […] Read more »

Freedom, Neutrality, and Casuality

Are you cause, or are you effect, in the material world? Are you a game player, or merely a pawn?  If you still think that your actions are what make a difference in the world, then you are still an effect, but if you have learned to integrate and neutralize your emotions, and have altered or are currently altering the core mind patterns responsible for your life, then you are […] Read more »

The Core of Argumentativeness: Confirmation Bias and Motivated Reasoning

It has become painfully obvious to me that many people are unable to get past their confirmation bias and motivated reasoning enough on emotionally charged topics to actually read and comprehend what has been presented by fair minded thinkers. They will bypass around fair minded information, even if it clearly addresses their concerns, because they perceive that it conflicts with their biases — and skip straight to arguing against points that […] Read more »