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Social Studies skills: Difference between revisions
→Zebra rule
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* origins of the idea of confirmation bias | * origins of the idea of confirmation bias | ||
** Aesop's fable: Fox and the Grapes, which is where we get the expression, "sour grapes" ("oh well, those grapes are probably sour") | ** Aesop's fable: Fox and the Grapes, which is where we get the expression, "sour grapes" ("oh well, those grapes are probably sour") | ||
** | *examples of confirmation bias | ||
** David Hume | **The New Testament tells of various miracles performed by Jesus, some of which occur on the sabbath, which is the Hebrew "day of rest" (no work is allowed) | ||
**when some of the Jewish leaders, "Pharisees," witness a miracle, instead of responding in awe of it (such as healing a cripple or giving sight to a blind man), they become upset that Jesus performed the miracle on the sabbath | |||
***basically, saying, "Yeah, whatever, you healed a dude, but you can't do that on a Saturday!" | |||
**the bias of the Pharisees was so strong that they ignored the miracle and instead accused Jesus of breaking the law by "working" on the sabbath | |||
* David Hume | |||
** 18th century Scottish philosopher who argued that knowledge is derived from experience (called "empiricism") | |||
** however, Hume warned against reason alone as the basis for knowledge, as one can "reason" just about anything | |||
*** Hume wrote, “Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.” | |||
** Hume warned against jumping to conclusions based on limited knowledge | |||
*** i.e. drawing conclusions based on our own confirmation bias | |||
=== Heinlein's Razor === | === Heinlein's Razor === | ||
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=== Zebra rule === | === Zebra rule === | ||
* "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra | * "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra" | ||
** similar to Sutton's law | ** similar to Sutton's law that the most obvious answer is likely correct | ||
** used by medical schools to teach focus on the most obvious patient conditions/ illness causes | ** used by medical schools to teach focus on the most obvious patient conditions/ illness causes | ||
* | * | ||
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* see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies | * see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies | ||
=== Kafka Trap | === Kafka Trap === | ||
* a logical trap whereby the argument uses its own refutation as evidence of a fallacy | * a logical trap whereby the argument uses its own refutation as evidence of a fallacy | ||
** i.e., "because you deny it, it must be true" | ** i.e., "because you deny it, it must be true" | ||