Tag: epistemology

Stereotypes and Statistical Generalizations

ByMarshall Thompson October 1, 2020 0 Comments
This post is an extended version of a piece which originally appeared at the Prindle Post. Let’s look at three different stories and use them to investigate statistical generalizations. Story 1 This semester I’m teaching a Reasoning and Critical Thinking course. During the first class, I ran through various questions designed to show that human thinking is subject to predictable and...

Faith and Climate Change

ByMarshall Thompson September 23, 2020 0 Comments
A while back a friend posted the following question on Facebook: “Can you criticize someone who doesn’t believe in climate change if you believe in God?Person A shows facts, stats, etc. to disprove God.Person B ignores it, says it is their faith and belief system which can’t be challenged by logic.Replace God above with Climate Change.Why do we criticize people who don’t believe in...

When and Why Should We Believe Experts?

ByPaul Rezkalla September 10, 2020 1 Comment
Professor Quasimodo says that we should brush our teeth twice a day and Professor Mosiquado says that brushing teeth has no dental benefits and is a complete waste of time. They’re both dental experts! How do we figure out what to believe in a case like this? Well, here’s one promising model: We should trust what an expert says about X if and only if the expert is relaying the consensus...