Pinker writes that one of the greatest gifts of education is teaching people to tell apart randomness from non-randomness. Rationality is a reminder that critical thinking takes a lot of instruction, it is not something that comes naturally to us. Still, since knowing something does not automatically translate into action, let alone into a habit, Rationality is the kind of book that you should come back to every once in awhile to reread certain chapters. The content is intellectually challenging, but as a reader, I haven’t felt confused or frustrated, thanks to Pinker’s lucid style and abundance of examples. It takes time to fully absorb the technicalities of critical thinking if you want to use it for learning. The reader is expected to put in quite a bit of effort when engaging with the book. It’s definitely more instructional than entertaining. If you are looking for a comprehensive view of critical thinking, this is a great book to read.īecause it is so packed with information, few will find it a light read. The strength of the book does not lie in the novelty of ideas or the way they are introduced, but in the density and variety of information. Pinker talks about formal logic, probability theory, causality, logical fallacies, and cognitive biases. Being concerned that critical thinking is not widely taught in schools, he hopes that the book will be useful for people who are interested in perfecting their reasoning.įor those who took a course on critical thinking at university, many of the topics in the book will sound familiar.
He is known for popular science works such as The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011), The Blank Slate (2002), Enlightenment Now (2018), or The Language Instinct (1994).Īs he stated in an interview with Channel 4 News, one of the reasons why he wrote Rationality is to make critical thinking more accessible. Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Steven Pinker’s newly published book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, aims to convince the reader of the value of exercising critical thinking. However, it turns out that it is a good idea to be skeptical about our own rationality because what is also very common is the bias blind spot: believing our own judgments to be rational, while others’ judgments to be biased by all sorts of cognitive distortions. They believe that the Gallery will be an important spur to their creative endeavors, will help support the beauty and bounty of Berrien County, and will play a role in the revitalization of the Village of Baroda.Most people think of themselves as rational. Greta and Bill are a bit wary of what they are getting themselves into, but they are excited too. Village of Baroda officials welcomed Tabula Rasa Gallery to the Village. A ribbon cutting occurred on September 1st, 2011. Rehabbing of the Gallery began in February 2011 and has been completed as of August 31st. Agri-tourism will also be supported through Support Local Agriculture (see food link above). "The 'gallery' idea was a natural for us", given Greta's thriving mosaic business ( and Bill's love for photography. Additional retail products, produced locally, are planned. They saw that Baroda's downtown (the "Village of Baroda") is well situated for revitalization and took the plunge. Greta and Bill Hurst learned that Tio's Restaurant in Baroda, Michigan was being sold at a reasonable price late in 2010. Photography, Art Glass, Artisanal food and Classes in this unique venue.
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