Truth, Knowledge, Or Just Plain Bull: How To Tell The Difference: A Handbook of Practical Logic and Clear Thinking

Want to sort out the claims of experts, pseudo-experts, scam artists, and liars alike? Want to protect yourself from the dangers of the ubiquitous nonsense and outright frauds that assault you from every side? Want to become acquainted with the pleasurable activity of discovering truth while enhancing your sophistication as a thinker? In this erudite yet entertaining handbook on critical thinking, Dr. Bernard M. Patten uses neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to teach you to do all this and more. He shows you that clear thinking is not just fun but also keeps you out of trouble, makes you more efficient, helps you develop and maintain prosperity, and generally gives you an edge in both your personal and business life. A Board Certified neurologist and a lecturer in formal, informal, and symbolic logic at Rice University, Dr. Patten has the scientific background as well as the philosophical training to give readers the most reliable and current information on how the brain thinks, learns, and remembers. By means of multiple (and sometimes startling) contemporary examples and insights, the author exercises your mind as an exercise machine might exercise your muscles. Each exercise is specifically formulated with the neuropsychology of learning in mind (repetition, tied association, visual images, distribution of tasks in time, modularity, etc.), so the reader acquires valuable knowledge quickly and painlessly. Emphasizing practical usefulness in real-life situations and evidence-based analysis, Dr. Patten examines: -investment frauds and other scams -groupthink -the psychology of belief -content analysis -hidden meanings -negotiation strategies He also gives careful attention to the rules of clear thinking, discusses the reality principle, explains inductive and deductive logic, exposes traditional fallacies, and elucidates truth tables, syllogisms, and symbolic logic. Fast, fact-filled, and fun, this superb self-help guide to better thinking teaches you to take control of your own destiny by accurately determining the truth value of statements and behaviors in many contexts.

Author: Bernard M. Patten
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 10/01/2004
Pages: 370
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.08lbs
Size: 9.04h x 6.06w x 0.77d
ISBN: 9781591022466


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/06/2004

About the Author
Bernard M. Patten, M.D., now retired, was formerly the chief of the Neuromuscular Disease Division, vice chairman of the Department of Neurology, and attending neurologist at the Baylor College of Medicine. He now lectures in clear thinking, mental gymnastics, logic, and neuroscience at Rice University and the Women's Institute of Houston. He is the author of The Logic of Alice: Clear Thinking in Wonderland; Truth, Knowledge, or Just Plain Bull: How to Tell the Difference; and Cruising on the Queen Elizabeth 2: Around the World in 91 Days.