Waski_the_Squirrel
Resident of the least visited state in the nation.
I wanted to recommend a book for anyone who has been frustrated by lousy arguments. It won't help the arguments make sense, but you'll see what's wrong with the reasoning and hopefully avoid making the same sorts of bad arguments yourself. Even more fun: the book is full of cartoons of fuzzy animals!
Of course, people are often unaware of the problems in their reasoning. So, sometimes the best thing to do is state your case and walk away. Naturally, be polite, but don't waste your time trying to reason with someone who chooses not to reason. That is what I finally did with the pastor I mentioned a few weeks ago. I saw there would be no communication with him, so I walked away from the conversation.
Anyway, the book is short, and a good one. It's worth having as an introduction to reasoned discussion. To me, the most useful thing about it is to evaluate my own arguments. The second most useful thing is that it shows me when to walk away from a discussion.
Clicking on the image below will take you to the book's Amazon page.
Of course, people are often unaware of the problems in their reasoning. So, sometimes the best thing to do is state your case and walk away. Naturally, be polite, but don't waste your time trying to reason with someone who chooses not to reason. That is what I finally did with the pastor I mentioned a few weeks ago. I saw there would be no communication with him, so I walked away from the conversation.
Anyway, the book is short, and a good one. It's worth having as an introduction to reasoned discussion. To me, the most useful thing about it is to evaluate my own arguments. The second most useful thing is that it shows me when to walk away from a discussion.
Clicking on the image below will take you to the book's Amazon page.
