A5 Overview: Chapters 11 – 15 READ ME!
Completion requirements
Deal With Your Irrational Mind, Detect Media Bias and Propaganda in National and World News, and Recognize Fallacies: The Art of Mental Trickery and Manipulation and Developing as an Ethical Reasoner
In chapters 11 and 12, we focus on argumentation theory and the importance of overcoming your egocentric and sociocentric tendencies that are so large a part of human nature. This chapter lays the groundwork for understanding the next three chapters, for getting at some of the root causes for media bias and propaganda, for understanding the role of self-deception in the formation and use of fallacies, and for distinguishing ethical reasoning from pseudo-ethical reasoning.
As a result of working through this chapter, you should demonstrate your ability to identify some patterns of egocentrism and sociocentrism in your thinking and life. Because egocentric and sociocentric thought are such tremendous barriers to critical thinking, this chapter, and the activities in it, should be worked through carefully.
One cannot be a critical thinker and fail to understand the logic of the news media. Chapter 12 focuses on that logic and argues that it is universal (the same logic found in the way news is constructed around the world). Given this universality, it is hopeless to wait for the media to reform itself. The logic it uses is pervasive and will change only to the extent that a new kind of news consumer – the critical thinker – emerges and becomes dominant. Until then, the best we can do is become individual critical consumers of the news and in virtue of that orientation see-through the present agenda of news production. To do this, you need to locate alternative, especially dissenting, sources for news. You must learn to become critical consumers of the news. This chapter provides insights which will start you on the path.
Chapters 13, 14, and 15 focuses on the prevalence in the world of two kinds of thinkers: those skilled in the manipulation of others and those manipulated by them. Only through critical thinking in the strong sense can we avoid being either a manipulator or one of the mass of manipulated. The chapter highlights 44 tricks that manipulators use. These tricks are sometimes presented as “mistakes,” as “fallacies,” but they are not mistakes to those who effectively use them to control others. Image: crittalkyang.james.com
Please read chapters 11 – 15 and also watch the TedTalk with Dr. Dan Ariely, Professor at Duke University, “Are We In Control of Our Own Decisions?” click here: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions Then answer the Reflection questions at the link provided and upload them at the link provided by the due date indicated in the assignments section. Note: this assignment counts 25% of your grade in this course.