Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking

What factors led to the "Martian panic" of 1938? Why did so many people conclude that an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? How do we explain the frenzied dance manias that captivated thousands of Europeans during the Middle Ages? Thinking is an innate ability that most people take for granted.

But--like writing and public speaking--thinking well is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. Hoaxes, myths, and manias occur when people give in to unreason, emotion, and unfounded belief. Our ability to think and reason needs to be exercised, tested, and sharpened to make us able to evaluate new situations as they arise.

In this unique introduction to critical thinking, Robert Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford first lay out the principles of critical thinking and then invite readers to put these principles to the test by examining a number of unusual and challenging case studies. Assembling a wide range of bizarre but actual incidents that span different cultures and time periods, they demonstrate how the tools of critical thinking can help reveal the truth behind strange events and seemingly mysterious behaviour.

Bartholomew and Radford show that reality is very much a social construction, that cultural assumptions play a large part in our judgments about what is normal and what is deviant, and that the use of critical reasoning is our best means of ensuring an objective perspective.