Lecture 1 Terms

Question 1

Critical Thinking

Answer 1

Applying systematic logic and doubt to any claim or belief; thinking carefully and rigorously.

Question 2

Delusion

Answer 2

A fixed, false belief that is vigorously held even in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence.

Question 3

Heuristic

Answer 3

A cognitive rule of thumb or mental shortcut that we subconsciously make that may be true much of the time but is not logically valid.

Question 4

Logic

Answer 4

A formal process or principle of reasoning.

Question 5

Metacognition

Answer 5

Thinking about thinking; examining the process by which we think about and arrive at our own beliefs.

Question 6

Methodological Naturalism

Answer 6

The philosophical assumptions that underlie scientific methodology; specifically, the assumption that all effects have natural causes.

Question 7

Pseudoscience

Answer 7

A practice that superficially resembles the process of science but distorts proper methodology to the point that it is fatally flawed and does not qualify as a true science.

Question 8

Scientific Skeptiscism

Answer 8

A comprehensive approach to knowledge of philosophy of science, scientific methods, mechanisms of self-deception and related fields to approach to truth in a provisional and systematic way.

Question 9

Valid

Answer 9

An argument in which the logic is proper and not fallacious.