When you consider some of the inane remarks that people and Trolls post on OPP, it becomes obvious that many do not know how to think critically. This is for all those people. If you have to ask yourself 'Am I one of them?' you are! If you think you do not need this, you do!
1. Just because something is logically possible doesn't mean that it's real.
2. Just because a claim hasn't been conclusively refuted doesn't mean that it's true.
3. Just because a claim hasn't been conclusively proven doesn't mean it's false.
4. Just because you can't explain something doesn't mean it's supernatural.
5. Just because something is physically possible doesn't mean it's real.
6. Just because something seems (feels, appears) real doesn't mean that it is.
7. It's reasonable to accept personal experience as reliable evidence only if there's no reason to doubt its reliability.
8. Just because you believe that something is true doesn't mean that it is.
9. Just because a group of people believes that something is true doesn't mean that it is.
10. There are objective t***hs.
11. We are justified in believing a proposition when we have no good reason to doubt it.
12.There is good reason to doubt a proposition if it conflicts with other propositions we have good reason to believe.
13. The more background information a proposition conflicts with, the more reason there is to doubt it.
14. When there is good reason to doubt a proposition, we should proportion our belief to the evidence.
15. There is good reason to doubt a proposition if it conflicts with expert opinion.
16. Just because someone is an expert in one field doesn't mean that s/he is an expert in another.
17. If we have no reason to doubt what's disclosed to us through perception, introspection, memory, or reason, then we're justified in believing it.
18. When evaluating a claim, look for disconfirming as well as confirming evidence.
19. When evaluating a claim, look at all the relevant evidence, not just the psychologically available evidence.
20. A hypothesis is scientific only if it is testable, that is, only if it predicts something other that what it was introduced to explain.
21. Other things being equal, the best hypothesis is the one that is the most fruitful, that is, makes the most novel oredictions.
22. Other things being equal, the best hypothesis is the one that has the greatest scope, that is, explains and predicts the most diverse phenomena.
23. Other things being equal, the best pypothesis is the simplest one, that is, the one that makes the fewest assumptions.
24. Other things being equal, the best hypothesis is the one that is the most conservative, that is, the one the fits best with established beliefs.
25. We should accept an extraordinary hypothesis only if no ordinary one will do.
26. Personal experience alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
27. Case studies alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyong a reasonable doubt.
28, When claims of a treatment's effectiveness are based solely on case studies or personal experience, you generally cannot know that the treatment is effective.
29. Scientific evidence gained through controlled experiments--unlike personal experience and case studies--generally can establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
30. Single medical studies generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
31. When the results of relevant studies conflict, you cannot know that the treatment in question is effective.
32. New study results that conflict with well-established finding cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
33. Test-tube studies alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
34. Animal studies alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
35. Observational studeies alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
36. Clinical trials with any of these limitations generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment beyond a reasonable doubt.
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