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The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake | Steven Novella
34 posts | 5 read | 1 reading | 15 to read
An all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking from podcast host and academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine Steven Novella and his SGU co-hosts, which Richard Wiseman calls "the perfect primer for anyone who wants to separate fact from fiction." It is intimidating to realize that we live in a world overflowing with misinformation, bias, myths, deception, and flawed knowledge. There really are no ultimate authority figures-no one has the secret, and there is no place to look up the definitive answers to our questions (not even Google). Luckily, THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE is your map through this maze of modern life. Here Dr. Steven Novella-along with Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, and Evan Bernstein-will explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths, fallacies, and conspiracy theories-from anti-vaccines to homeopathy, UFO sightings to N- rays. You'll learn the difference between science and pseudoscience, essential critical thinking skills, ways to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy co- worker of yours, and how to combat sloppy reasoning, bad arguments, and superstitious thinking. So are you ready to join them on an epic scientific quest, one that has taken us from huddling in dark caves to setting foot on the moon? (Yes, we really did that.) DON'T PANIC! With THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE, we can do this together. "Thorough, informative, and enlightening, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe inoculates you against the frailties and shortcomings of human cognition. If this book does not become required reading for us all, we may well see modern civilization unravel before our eyes."--Neil deGrasse Tyson "In this age of real and fake information, your ability to reason, to think in scientifically skeptical fashion, is the most important skill you can have. Read The Skeptics' Guide Universe; get better at reasoning. And if this claim about the importance of reason is wrong, The Skeptics' Guide will help you figure that out, too." --Bill Nye
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MentalFlux
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Get the sloppy out of your thinking!

This book has proven to be the beginning of a new endeavor to understand the world. It has proven to be the end of the way I used to view the world.

Hard to describe how much of a burden has been lifted off my shoulders by relearning concepts that I had been taught once before but with baggage attached.

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GypsyKat
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I‘ve got a thing for science books, so I had to grab today‘s #AudibleDailyDeal 🌌

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AthenaWins
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This was such a great adventure into memory, psychology, and paranoia. The Novella brothers do a great job of not only presenting complex thinking, but they do it in such a way that there is little explaining needed. They advocate critical thinking and research. And they demand we go out and find the answers to life's greatest questions ourselves. I really enjoyed this one.

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WeAreLegion
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This should be a textbook for all humans. Required in all schools everywhere.

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Oblomov26
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The first book from the team behind the Skeptics Guide podcast of which I have long been a listener. This book is both as an introduction to modern scepticism and a tool kit which can be applied to investigating extraordinary claims in the modern world. In many cases these beliefs are harmless (Who cares if someone believes in Bigfoot), but in other cases the outcome can be deadly (Quack Cancer Cures). A good read and very comprehensive.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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He's referring here to Ed and Loraine Warren.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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LauraJ Good stuff in this book. 5y
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keithmalek
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cherinium That's an interesting point. There are MANY people I know that sit on opposing sides of these issues. 5y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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He wasn't specifically referring to religion here, but if there's a better analogy, I know not of it.

Samplergal Truth! 5y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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vivastory The last one especially 5y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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HA! "JAQing off."

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa This book looks really good! 5y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek

Then there's the handedness bias. When offered two equivalent choices (meaning there was no reason why the subject should prefer one choice over the over), right-handed subjects in a study were more likely to choose the option on the right, while left-handers were more likely to choose the option on the left. (If a right-handed person had an injured right hand, their choice shifted to the left option).

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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This might just be the best quotation I've ever heard regarding the cult of positive thinking.

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keithmalek
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