A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

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topical index: logic & perception

A
ad hoc hypothesis
ad hominem
ad populum fallacy
affect bias
anomalistic psychology
anchoring effect
apophenia
appeal to authority
appeal to tradition
argument to ignorance
autokinetic effect
availability error
B
backfire effect
backward (satanic) messages
Barnum effect
begging the question
C
change blindness
Clever Hans phenomenon
clustering illusion
cognitive biases
cognitive dissonance
cold reading 
collective hallucinations
communal reinforcement
Concorde fallacy
confabulation
confirmation bias
control group study
D
déjà vu
divine fallacy
F
face on Mars
false dilemma
false memory
Forer effect
G
gambler's fallacy
H
hidden persuaders
hypersensory perception
I
illusion of understanding
inattentional blindness
ideomotor effect
infrasound
intentionality bias
J
jamais vu
L
law of truly large numbers
Littlewood's law of miracles
logical fallacies
loss aversion
M
magical thinking
mass hysteria
memory
Moses syndrome
motivated reasoning
N
negativity bias
nirvana fallacy
nocebo effect
non sequitur
O
Occam's razor
P
pareidolia
perfect solution fallacy
placebo effect
positive-outcome bias
post hoc fallacy
pragmatic fallacy
p-value fallacy
pyramidiocy
R
regressive fallacy
representativeness error
retrospective falsification
S
selection bias
selective thinking
self-deception
shoehorning
subliminal
sunk-cost fallacy
T
testimonial
Texas-sharpshooter fallacy
W
wishful thinking

Last updated 20-Nov-2015

Recommended Reading

Critical Thinking Mini-Lessons

Adams, James L. Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas 3rd ed. (Perseus Press, 1990).

Ariely, Dan.  (2008). Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (HarperCollins).

Dawes, Robyn M. Everyday Irrationality: How Pseudo-Scientists, Lunatics, and the Rest of Us Systematically Fail to Think Rationally (Westview Press 2003).

Gardner, Martin. Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1957), 

Gardner, Martin. Science: Good, Bad and Bogus (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1981), 

Gilovich, Thomas. How We Know What Isn't' So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life (New York: The Free Press, 1993).

Groopman, Jerome. M.D. 2007. How Doctors Think. Houghton Mifflin. My review of this book is here.

Kahneman, Daniel. Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky. eds. 1982. Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases Cambridge University Press.

Kida, Thomas. 2006. Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking. Prometheus.

Kourany, Janet A. Scientific Knowledge: Basic Issues in the Philosophy of Science, 2nd edition (Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1998).

Levine, Robert. 2003. The Power of Persuasion - How We're Bought and Sold. John Wiley & Sons.

Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World - Science as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Random House, 1995).

Seckel, Al. (2006). Incredible Visual Illusions.Arcturus Publishing, Ltd.

Sternberg, Robert J. ed. Why Smart people Can Be So Stupid. (Yale University Press 2002).

Sutherland, Stuart. (2007). Irrationality. 2rev edition (Pinter & Martin Ltd).

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