How Reasoning Goes Awry
- Anomalies of Language
- What Berkeley called the mist and veil of words can be a source of confusion that impedes reasoning.
- Artifices of Deception and Distraction
- The methods of deception and distraction are used to fool people and divert their attention.
- Bias
- A process of reasoning is biased if it has errors that systematically favor one conclusion over others due to the reasoner’s bias.
- Conspiracy Theories
- A conspiracy theory explains the evidence as resulting from a secret plot by a powerful group of conspirators.
- The problem is that there’s typically a simpler, straightforward explanation of the evidence which, per Ockham’s Razor, is more likely.
- Disinformation
- “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire
- Fallacies
- A fallacy is an error in reasoning having an air of plausibility
- Fooled by Statistics
- Statistics is tricky. It’s easy to be fooled.
- Why People Believe Irrational Things
- People sometimes believe what they’re predisposed to believe through motivated reasoning.
A Philosopher's View 