Critical thinking, and why it's important.

redpillbanana · 2015-09-17T02:59:30+00:00

I wish more people would listen to you. Sadly, the appeal to logic- and evidence-based argument usually falls on deaf ears. My favorite quote from Sam Harris explains it:

“If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?”

RedditDotaMan · 2015-09-17T01:42:24+00:00

also note that medical literature is, more often than not, complete bullshit. I'm in the field and believe me these studies are garbage.

jimjackjoe · 2015-09-17T02:23:34+00:00

I usually eat baked chicken, potatoes/rice, and loads of vegetables for dinner. I eat oatmeal and fruit in the morning, sometimes eggs, sometimes fibrous cereal. Along the way, I'll also buy random things at the super-market--cottage cheese, a frozen pizza, a steak, refried beans, whatever--and throw them in the mix. But for the most part, I eat stuff straight from the ground with no processing.

Does health need to be more complex than this? Is being into healthy eating like being into fine wine--a hobby in which you go out of your way to enjoy the little nuances? Or do the little nuances people get all into--the juicing and the antioxidants--really make a big enough difference that I should care more?

My intuition says that I have the right idea and that the nuances only have to matter to people who enjoy health stuff. I think I can keep doing what I'm doing without really caring about healthy eating. My body feels good--isn't that the ultimate judge? What's your opinion on what I'm saying.

Also, I want to point out I've done some critical thinking by thinking about health in this overarching way. There's intuition-based critical thinking for things that don't have studies to prove them. My intuition may be completely wrong in this case, but people gotta develop their intuitive critical thinking.

caucasianinasia · 2015-09-17T13:11:50+00:00

I've been working in commercial electricity plants my whole adult life. Came out of the US Navy Nuke pipeline. When I see articles about anything related to the power industry, they are always full of misinformation and retarded statements.
So then I think to myself, the media is not only messing up the things I know about so that means pretty much everything is probably like that to some degree.

Myrpl · 2015-09-17T14:54:55+00:00

You can experience the lack of critical thinking everywhere. Just see the nofap sub. Nobody ever questions the findings of the so called cited experiments and if you dare suggest that masturbation isn't evil in itself they'll ~~stone~~ downvote you to oblivion.

I followed no porn instead and couldn't be happier.

sardinemanR · 2015-09-17T16:53:43+00:00

Yeah I posted the same thing in that thread and got downvoted and argued with.

I didn't care enough to bother.

You have to understand most people have low intelligence and don't want to change. Any little but of "knowledge" they will desperately cling to, even on the internet it's impossible for them to factor in new evidence and change their minds.

It is a sign of the truly intelligent to be able to divorce their self worth from a position and actually make decisions. But even that usually gets attacked, and most people don't like getting attacked, so smarter people tend not to bother taking positions or helping anyone else out after awhile. This is why it always seems like knowledge is being retained in very small groups, it is because those groups do not attack each other and share a pursuit of truth rather than judging each other's self worth.

Heck, we all know how hostile people are to TRP. And TRP really in itself is pretty simple stuff and doesn't seek to inject itself anywhere (or really shouldn't most of us stick to this sub and don't bring TRP ideas to other places).

egoisenemy · 2015-09-17T22:45:02+00:00

Honestly, I hope a lot of people start applying this to TRP as well because there are a lot of posts, even highly upvoted ones, that are just retarded in their intent and arguments. People keep creating posts shouting that Women are the enemy and are all vile monsters, rather than explaining that women operate on certain biological instincts that in conjunction with the rampant overly-liberal PC societal mindset has created a very difficult situation for both women and men. I may be wrong but I believe TRP is about understanding how and why women operate the way they do, how to react accordingly, and how to be a goddamn man who lives a worthwhile life.

ThePedanticF0x · 2015-09-18T15:23:02+00:00

Modern media is mostly propaganda. The percentage of unbiased or true information is both minuscule and deliberately hidden, and takes tremendous effort to find. Therefore it should be the concern of every individual to assume misinformation in everything they see, hear and read if they value the truth at all. As some great man once said, it is in your own best interest to question everything.

Many of us here in this subreddit think we have freed ourselves completely from the mindlessness of the herd, don't be too assured, we have only grasped the tip of the iceberg. The lies society has fed us are innumerable, many of them even the most avid supporters of this subreddit will refuse to accept because it proves our most plausible beliefs as total nonsense.

The truth is only found in the back alleys and underbellies of society, places nobody dares tread because the sheep are told that only the most vile, treacherous of individuals frequents such abominable venues. Venues like TRP.

Suravira · 2015-09-17T01:52:52+00:00

Upvote for justice, it was like something hippies would spout, about how overdosing vitamin C will cure cancer, they're just dreamers looking for hope.

I believe it was in China where children where going blind from vitamin A deficiency before we GMO'd some rice, didn't hear the hippies screaming about vitamin power there.

Nope, it's always unhealthy when the Doctors/establishment are recommending it, without realising it's the pharmaceuticals who are creating and selling all the vitamins.

I also don't think people are missing micro targets as they're most likely over eating anyways, even if they were a glass of milk would probably cover it.

Luckyluke23 · 2015-09-17T04:36:20+00:00

It's full of junk to attract the reader into reading

You are kind of right here but half the time they dont care if you have read it. Ita all about the vlick bait baby to get.you to the aite for ad rev.

death_glider · 2015-09-17T11:11:37+00:00

I agree with you. There is mass hysteria in this subreddit sometimes just like in any other gathering of people.

For God's sake, don't take health or legal advice from random people on the internet.

This post is giving you a resource and telling you to use your own brain, unlike all the other pseudo law/medical advice on here.

PS, I'm a lawyer practicing as a surgeon (because I can) and I just came back from the space station to analyze the data that would form the dissertation for my 4th PhD.

vengefully_yours · 2015-09-18T02:34:29+00:00

Even the most critical thinking of us can still fall prey to bullshit. I see it constantly, in all manner of places and subjects. My big one is ethanol fuel. So much negative propaganda about it, and since people don't have experience, knowledge about fuels, fuel systems, or engines/cars in general they will take it all at face value and never question the bullshit.

In fact most will continue to spread the misinformation about ethanol fuel as if it's written in stone fact. It doesn't eat fuel systems, it doesn't destroy engines, it doesn't use up your food, it doesn't cost power and drivability, the reality is that it's the exact opposite of each of those. You're told at every turn how horrible it is, when it is simply amazing stuff that runs better, burns immensely cleaner, makes considerably more power, doesn't go bad in the tank, and can handle very high compression and/or boost. You're unaware of how it works and often how engines work, so you take it as fact that it's bad, when it's utter bullshit and your engine would last virtually forever on straight ethanol and gasoline is what kills it.

You see it's marketing, they want you to buy their product, so they tell you how horrible the competition is, and make up anything they can pass off as fact. Feminism does it, so does religion, and businesses do it all the damn time. Do you believe there are 1/4 of girls being raped at college/universities? Do you believe in the wage gap? If not, wht do you believe the rest of the propaganda you're fed?

oldredder · 2015-09-19T01:59:09+00:00

Believe it or not this is how things have always been. It's only recently somehow society turned into a thing where a large number of people turned off their bullshit-filters or never learned to have any. I don't think the actual level of bullshit per-person has actually gone up or down.

Just googling "soil depletion" all we get is bunch of bullshit articles spinned by magazines, and scientificamerica (LOL BSAmercia).

Then don't google them. The bottom line is there's no magic in agriculture so if you put nutrients into plants from the soil you need to replace them in the soil to keep using it as you have.

The_Ralph · 2015-09-19T17:59:56+00:00

A well-read mind is a rationale mind. I read widely and always try to "read up." I mean: I read texts that matter. I listen to lectures; The Great Courses have been a lifesaver on my long commute! Sometimes of course you need a break and want to pick up the junk Stephen King, etc.

Try subscribing to different journals and magazines: The Economist, Scientific American, National Geographic, the list goes on and on. Try some out and stick with what appeals to you. Question it all.

Stythe · 2015-09-17T14:30:26+00:00

Side note, if you're gut feeling is that something is off, that's a good place to apply critical thinking.

Title	Critical thinking, and why it's important.
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	93
Comments	74
Date	September 17, 2015 1:15 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/3l8vhy/critical_thinking_and_why_its_important/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/critical-thinking-and-why-its-important.36476 https://theredarchive.com/post/36476

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