Any time I encounter this kind of thing I immediately think of Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World and how I wish everybody would read it, and that it would be made mandatory in schools. I don't think any book has had a greater effect on my sense of critical thinking or effected my daily life in a more apparent way. Thanks to Sagan, I question everything, and it's saved me from falling for a lot of nonsense as I've gone through life. I want to give a copy to everyone I know; I want to drive down the street handing out free copies to strangers. I haven't because I have no faith most people would even bother to read it if I did.
That title may get people who aren't ordinarily interested in books to click on it, though. I like to browse at times and watch things I wouldn't usually look at.
Considering the huge amount of books on Crystals, astrology, the entire "current affairs" section at barns and noble and the entire spirituality and self help sections, and the huge amount of race theory and literal conspiracy theory books that proudly proclaim themselves to be conspiracy theorist I would say you would be wrong. Reading books does not make you smarter it is a hobby like anything else. In fact its the idea that you are intellectually superior and know the real truth that lead people down the path of conspiracy theory.
I have to disagree. When you think you are immune to fraudulent claims that's when your are most susceptible to fraudulent claims. It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect
Back in the day, there would be some "enlightened" individual spouting all manner of "facts" in a bars all over the world and they were generally dismissed as cranks, with the internet everyone of them now has a soapbox
I was speaking to a neighbour, and he asked where I got my doubt. I learned young to "believe nothing of what you hear, and half of what you read". Not sure I would trust even half of what we read today, especially headlines...
Why skepticism is important? When asked I explain the historical and recent scientific findings of our nature. Hardest thing for a human to do is forecast the future. The greatest among us are the most skeptical of their own predictions, especially their own. Remain open, but take a stand. As Jung said: if what I held to be an error guides me better than what I held to be true... I will be guided by the error..
Good video, Michael. Too many people confuse open-minded skepticism with cynicism, which it is not. The amount of malarkey on these platforms is breathtaking.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, professor Vaughan! Your timing is spot on. My hubs is wrapped up in conspiracies on his iPad TV, as he calls it. “Cable News Network confirmed it!” He hollers from the kitchen. Aaaarrrrggghhhh!
Then you just aren't skeptical enough. If you think that the government is not using youtube to spread its message then you have been catastrophically fooled.
Good point on the need for skepticism. It seems like there’s a rush to get the content out, to be the first. Even with the mainstream. Also, the need for a clickable links to get the people to view the content. Whether the content is true or not doesn’t matter, getting people to respond is. To make money. But I believe in Roger. He’s old and wise.
The initial headline on CNN was that the rally had been halted due to Trump FALLING ...It was up there for like an hour before they changed it. Everyone of us watching knew what was happening immediately. Guess the almigty establishment and their resources knew better.
Here's my conspiracy theory everybody should believe for their own good: Michael Vaughan is just a facade for Makha Vauhotep, an ancient Egyptian sorcerer from the Ptolemaic era. This much is obvious, but here's what you don't know. Makha is actually to the right of the video and the guy in the center is just a charmingly well dressed flesh puppet! That's right, Vauhotep is a master puppeteer!
What's his angle though? Is it just to live forever and love modern literature - like Lovecraft? Or should we be suspicious of his affinity for that author, since it opens up a necronomicon of other theories and alternative facts?
I KNEW IT! That Grammaticus Book Guy was right all along when he said on youtube Roger is really rhe one reading all those 500 book challenge books. I just knew it!
Yeah, that's why I tend to avoid talking about politics and religion on my channel. RUclips is basically one big op-ed, and you have to take things with a grain of salt. Opinions and a-holes, everyone's got one!
I don't know about CNN, but one of MSNBC's editorialists apparently believes that a certain recent event was staged, and there are video clips of her claims (but MSNBC itself isn't showing those clips!) It's important to note that this is an editorialist - we used to understand in the latter days of print newspapers and news magazines that there was a distinct difference between news reporting and editorial opinion and commentary, since they were kept pretty separately so that editorial commentary appeared on a back-page editorial column or other distinct section alongside political cartoons (the loose equivalent of internet memes back in the days before the internet!) The lines seem to have blurred starting in the days of 24-hour news networks, I think: you started hearing more editorial commentary as filler during news reporting, editorial shows and blocks tended to become more popular and entertaining than repetitive news reporting and editorial could help "spice up" the news reporting to draw in viewers, etc. And then, there's the internet age, where everything is available simultaneously in an indistinct barrage, with editorial commentary dumped in "blipvert" soundbytes for easy consumption onto social media without context and treated as if it were news by people who assume other people will know the difference, or perhaps more often by people who cannot tell the difference themselves! Anyway, the long and short of it is that we shouldn't believe (at face value, without question) not just RUclips, but also 24-hour infotainment in general, whether it's on social media, "news" networks, talk radio, or even more traditional sources of information like newspapers, magazines, history books, etc. I think many of us need to learn how to apply a little critical thinking, and keep in mind (or learn) the difference between facts and opinions, how to detect and understand the biases and assumptions and often wishful thinking that naturally color what might otherwise be objective reporting, and so on. These used to be skills taught in schools, but sadly I think that schools have been failing to teach these skills! I work in technical support and used to work in the training department, and it seems like almost every new hire I worked with there struggled with concepts like cause-and-effect, critical thinking, magical thinking, appeals to authority, and so on, and those struggles made it very difficult for most of my trainees to make the leap into a technical field - they're vital to master for would-be troubleshooters, and it's difficult to offload these skills to adults who are already set in their ways in a few days of technical training before turning them loose more or less on their own in entry-level troubleshooting work, and comedy tended to ensue as a result when many of those trainees inevitably rejected their training and began accepting anything that customers said without question, applied magical thinking solutions to problems, attempted to use one-size-fits-all solutions to problems in ways that couldn't possibly help, accepted magical cure-all solutions from colleagues without question, and so on! (You can't blame them: critical thinking and logic are hard, being told what to think by a "trusted source" is easy and comforting!) Anyway, we shouldn't accept without question anything we hear on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, the BBC or whatever, any more than we should social media.
Experiencing a recent election campaign in my country was a salutary reminder that the truth is rarely one of the options on offer. You know the politicians are lying to you, they know you know, you know they know you know - but what you gonna do? At the end of the day, if you vote, you have to pick one pack of lies over another (and hope for the best).
You shouldn’t believe mainstream media either, have you seen some of the headlines like “ trump was rushed off stage after loud noises were heard “. I hope you apply your critical thinking to things you hear from the government and mainstream media too
I have not seen any real headlines like that however at least it is a factually correct statement. You could also write a headline saying that "secret service piled on top of Trump after they got scared". That is also a factually correct statement, you might not like the wording because you want to change it to mean something that reinforces your feelings about the incident but its still a factual headline. I'm more concerned with the objectively false information going on about the incident then I am with the wording of any headline.
Turning to establishment sources doesn't equal critical thinking. They told you Trump had said we should inject, then drink bleach. They told you he "fell" when he was hiding from a gunman, ffs.
A guy once tried to convince me that all my beloved Conan stories were "fiction". Madness!! I mean, can you even imagine? I have a HUGE stack of books with Conan stories. How can they ALL be lying to me?
Of course it's real, Howard was channeling his past lives of a post-diluvian world - as was Tolkien and Aston-Smith and Lovecraft - it all fits! REH was a theosophical devotee, he knew this on some level. And that's why the royal families are lizards.
Michael’s absolutely right. One time I watched Quinn’s Ideas and he said that the worst book in the Dune series, God Emperor of Dune, was actually the best book. I ended up reading-reading it only to realize he must have been lying (or perhaps somehow likes this droll book).
Part of the problem is that many people think that if something appears on the Internet, it must be true. Also, I don't think many people know what a "reputable source" means. The concept is beyond them.
On RUclips, I enjoy hearing people talk about books I love and books I plan to read, but nonsense like conspiracy theories and baloney about eating specific foods will cure cancer - no!
reminding me of tree octopus websites and other early internet things that were fake just to make people think about what other things they saw online that day
Very wise words. Misinformation on the Internet has no doubt cost many lives so far (I am thinking all the far-right and far-left hate speech), and will do so again in the future.
Nice video; timely and cogent. Critical thinking skills are needed more than ever, but seem to be being drowned by the ever-increasing nonsense that is scatter shot through social media.
I’m reading Misbelief by Dan Ariely presently and this comes up as well as other observations on belief / misbelief and why people are drawn into these situations.
Butterfly effect bedamned. My first clue to question this channel was having a time traveler and not win the lottery or have a future sports almanac sitting around on the book shelf; hidden in plain sight. Thanks, we all need reminders sometime because some of us do get lost in the words and adventures in our books.
I love the crack research department you have on hand! I bet anything going through them has to pass the sniff test 🐶 Skepticism is important. Fact checking is incredibly important. It's unfortunate this is not always practiced by people. Wait, the King is _not_ a shape shifting lizard? I 'dunno Michael, a friend of my friend's uncle's daughter's second cousin told her otherwise. 😜
Evolution does not purport to explain anything. If you think it does then that is proof you don't understand what evolution is. That statement would be like saying that dogs are not as good at computer programming as they purport to be. Dogs do not purport to be able to program computers. That statement is nonsensical, its not skeptical its just an irrational thought that proves you don't know what your talking about. Stephen Meyers has no education in biology what so ever, the average high school student knows as much about biology as he does.
I'm with you 💯%. We need this kind of reminder. You'll probably get a lot of idiotic blowback, but that's to be expected. Critical thinking on social media is like hen's teeth. People used to say, "It's true. I saw it on the TV." Now, "It's true. I saw it on RUclips."
I have a family member born on this day in 1969. As far as I can tell that person is real. I suspect the moon landing is real also. That reminds me. It’s time to say Happy Birthday.
But...I believe everything you tell me. Surely you won't steer me wrong, given how many absolutely amazing books I've read as a result of your recommendations!
The US needs a better education system which teaches critical thinking. As an Australian it is frightening to see the craziness, mendacity and ignorance happening in your political discourse. America is an incredibly divided country and you no longer have a stable democracy and this can only have a negative impact not only on the US but the whole world. Like me you must be really worried to have made this non book focused clip. I hope there are enough people in the US like you who can inject balance and reason into the debate to avert a disaster as institutions and the rule of law are being subverted.
Let’s save the criticism. I have an Ozzie friend and he tells me your discourse ain’t much better than ours. I’ve read the news there as well. Try managing a country with 330M people. You’ve got 20M over there so pls save it.
We have a problem, but I don't know whether "a better education system which teaches critical thinking" is the answer. It COULD be, but I'd want to apply some critical thinking to that claim.
It's a damning reflection on modern society that this even needs to be explained to people. I gave up on humanity after these types of people voted for the lies of both Brexit & Trump. The world gets what it deserves.
There is no critical thinking. People jump on bandwagons with an all-or-nothing attitude for one 'side' or another, blindly toadying, mouthing things that they would never believe or hold in their minds and hearts, but this is what THIS SIDE says, or ohmygod, we have to hate or go against the reasonable ir good thing THAT SIDE says. There is no middle ground, no gray areas or personal thinking in most people. There is a lot of automatic hate out there.
This is happening because critical thinking is not taught anymore. When I was at senior school in the 1960s (that's high school to my American cousins), we had class debates, analysis of the news, and real history lessons. We were taught to question everything and weigh it against the information available. The teachers pushed us hard to explain our opinions and position. At university that became even more rigorous. Today, young people are spoon-fed the trend of day and are discouraged for asking for primary source evidence..
Good points, but what sources are people supposed to trust? Complete cynicism is as bad as idiocy IMO. Of course, this isn't your job to answer, but I wonder if any works of fiction tackle the topic?
If it was anyone other than you Michael, I would be very sceptical of your claim that you resurrected Roger by using the Necronomicon. But since it is you, I've parked my scepticism and am willing to accept your claim. More seriously, by their very nature, conspiracy theories can never be completely eliminated because people will always see links between events or elements even when they aren't really connected.
Any time I encounter this kind of thing I immediately think of Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World and how I wish everybody would read it, and that it would be made mandatory in schools. I don't think any book has had a greater effect on my sense of critical thinking or effected my daily life in a more apparent way.
Thanks to Sagan, I question everything, and it's saved me from falling for a lot of nonsense as I've gone through life. I want to give a copy to everyone I know; I want to drive down the street handing out free copies to strangers. I haven't because I have no faith most people would even bother to read it if I did.
The collapse of critical thinking skills is devastating our culture on all levels.
There is no "collapse". People as a collective never spend much time thinking.
Most people who are watching a channel about reading books probably aren't the ones who need to hear this message.
That title may get people who aren't ordinarily interested in books to click on it, though. I like to browse at times and watch things I wouldn't usually look at.
Considering the huge amount of books on Crystals, astrology, the entire "current affairs" section at barns and noble and the entire spirituality and self help sections, and the huge amount of race theory and literal conspiracy theory books that proudly proclaim themselves to be conspiracy theorist I would say you would be wrong. Reading books does not make you smarter it is a hobby like anything else. In fact its the idea that you are intellectually superior and know the real truth that lead people down the path of conspiracy theory.
@@treeforged9097 I believe that around 45% of any large group are idiots or assholes.
Well it certainly hasn't made you smarter. Based on your examples I would guess your favorite book is Art of deal.
I have to disagree. When you think you are immune to fraudulent claims that's when your are most susceptible to fraudulent claims. It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect
You overlooked one very important point, Michael. In today’s world, things don’t actually need to be true to be facts. Scary times.
It's not just today's world.
It's hard to believe that things like this need to be said, but thank you for saying it. Your research team deserves a raise.
Exactly! Especially that Steve Donoghue guy. 😉
Very well said! Critical thinking, especially when it comes to your personal biases, is so important, especially when using the internet!
Well said, Professor Vaughn. The world is full of idiots with platforms.
😂
My DI at Paris Island imparted this bit of wisdom; "Believe nothing that you hear and half of what you see."
The quote comes from Poe's short story "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" (1845).
Regardless where it came from , Good Advice !
@@TheNineteenthCentury I was not in a position to ask SSgt. Grham for citations ;)
I love going months without watching youtube videos and coming across videos like this
A wonderful PSA, especially about being skeptical of the parts that we agree with.
Back in the day, there would be some "enlightened" individual spouting all manner of "facts" in a bars all over the world and they were generally dismissed as cranks, with the internet everyone of them now has a soapbox
I was speaking to a neighbour, and he asked where I got my doubt. I learned young to "believe nothing of what you hear, and half of what you read". Not sure I would trust even half of what we read today, especially headlines...
Why skepticism is important? When asked I explain the historical and recent scientific findings of our nature. Hardest thing for a human to do is forecast the future. The greatest among us are the most skeptical of their own predictions, especially their own. Remain open, but take a stand. As Jung said: if what I held to be an error guides me better than what I held to be true... I will be guided by the error..
Perry White taught me an adage that I follow. Believe none of what you see, half of what you hear and all of what you write.
Good video, Michael. Too many people confuse open-minded skepticism with cynicism, which it is not.
The amount of malarkey on these platforms is breathtaking.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, professor Vaughan! Your timing is spot on. My hubs is wrapped up in conspiracies on his iPad TV, as he calls it.
“Cable News Network confirmed it!” He hollers from the kitchen.
Aaaarrrrggghhhh!
If Zorro is the research department, what is Rhonda doing? Inquiring minds want to know.
Social media marketing
I'm far, far more skeptical of anything the government says than what some rando on YT says.
Then you just aren't skeptical enough. If you think that the government is not using youtube to spread its message then you have been catastrophically fooled.
Good point on the need for skepticism. It seems like there’s a rush to get the content out, to be the first. Even with the mainstream. Also, the need for a clickable links to get the people to view the content. Whether the content is true or not doesn’t matter, getting people to respond is. To make money. But I believe in Roger. He’s old and wise.
The initial headline on CNN was that the rally had been halted due to Trump FALLING ...It was up there for like an hour before they changed it. Everyone of us watching knew what was happening immediately. Guess the almigty establishment and their resources knew better.
Here's my conspiracy theory everybody should believe for their own good: Michael Vaughan is just a facade for Makha Vauhotep, an ancient Egyptian sorcerer from the Ptolemaic era. This much is obvious, but here's what you don't know. Makha is actually to the right of the video and the guy in the center is just a charmingly well dressed flesh puppet! That's right, Vauhotep is a master puppeteer!
That explains the twinkle in the mummy's eye!! 😮
This is just plain facts.
What's his angle though? Is it just to live forever and love modern literature - like Lovecraft? Or should we be suspicious of his affinity for that author, since it opens up a necronomicon of other theories and alternative facts?
@@MagusMarquillin . I think Stately Vaughan Manor is a time and space portal. You go in and can never get out the same way!
I will go along with that one ... I mean he has the Necronomicon
Yes to skepticism and a desire to look at the evidence!
Wise words. ‘Doubt is the origin of truth’ - Socrates.
I KNEW IT! That Grammaticus Book Guy was right all along when he said on youtube Roger is really rhe one reading all those 500 book challenge books. I just knew it!
Thanks for the much needed PSA. I love the shot of your "crack research team" hard at work! 😂
Yeah, that's why I tend to avoid talking about politics and religion on my channel. RUclips is basically one big op-ed, and you have to take things with a grain of salt. Opinions and a-holes, everyone's got one!
Thank you and Roger for this PSA.
No, that guy was right. I saw it on CNN too. 🤔
I don't know about CNN, but one of MSNBC's editorialists apparently believes that a certain recent event was staged, and there are video clips of her claims (but MSNBC itself isn't showing those clips!)
It's important to note that this is an editorialist - we used to understand in the latter days of print newspapers and news magazines that there was a distinct difference between news reporting and editorial opinion and commentary, since they were kept pretty separately so that editorial commentary appeared on a back-page editorial column or other distinct section alongside political cartoons (the loose equivalent of internet memes back in the days before the internet!)
The lines seem to have blurred starting in the days of 24-hour news networks, I think: you started hearing more editorial commentary as filler during news reporting, editorial shows and blocks tended to become more popular and entertaining than repetitive news reporting and editorial could help "spice up" the news reporting to draw in viewers, etc.
And then, there's the internet age, where everything is available simultaneously in an indistinct barrage, with editorial commentary dumped in "blipvert" soundbytes for easy consumption onto social media without context and treated as if it were news by people who assume other people will know the difference, or perhaps more often by people who cannot tell the difference themselves!
Anyway, the long and short of it is that we shouldn't believe (at face value, without question) not just RUclips, but also 24-hour infotainment in general, whether it's on social media, "news" networks, talk radio, or even more traditional sources of information like newspapers, magazines, history books, etc.
I think many of us need to learn how to apply a little critical thinking, and keep in mind (or learn) the difference between facts and opinions, how to detect and understand the biases and assumptions and often wishful thinking that naturally color what might otherwise be objective reporting, and so on. These used to be skills taught in schools, but sadly I think that schools have been failing to teach these skills!
I work in technical support and used to work in the training department, and it seems like almost every new hire I worked with there struggled with concepts like cause-and-effect, critical thinking, magical thinking, appeals to authority, and so on, and those struggles made it very difficult for most of my trainees to make the leap into a technical field - they're vital to master for would-be troubleshooters, and it's difficult to offload these skills to adults who are already set in their ways in a few days of technical training before turning them loose more or less on their own in entry-level troubleshooting work, and comedy tended to ensue as a result when many of those trainees inevitably rejected their training and began accepting anything that customers said without question, applied magical thinking solutions to problems, attempted to use one-size-fits-all solutions to problems in ways that couldn't possibly help, accepted magical cure-all solutions from colleagues without question, and so on! (You can't blame them: critical thinking and logic are hard, being told what to think by a "trusted source" is easy and comforting!)
Anyway, we shouldn't accept without question anything we hear on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, the BBC or whatever, any more than we should social media.
Can you find it and link to it?
Experiencing a recent election campaign in my country was a salutary reminder that the truth is rarely one of the options on offer.
You know the politicians are lying to you, they know you know, you know they know you know - but what you gonna do? At the end of the day, if you vote, you have to pick one pack of lies over another (and hope for the best).
An important PSA and of course, your delivery is brilliant! 👏🏻 Kudos to your amazing research team! 🐾
You shouldn’t believe mainstream media either, have you seen some of the headlines like “ trump was rushed off stage after loud noises were heard “. I hope you apply your critical thinking to things you hear from the government and mainstream media too
I have not seen any real headlines like that however at least it is a factually correct statement. You could also write a headline saying that "secret service piled on top of Trump after they got scared". That is also a factually correct statement, you might not like the wording because you want to change it to mean something that reinforces your feelings about the incident but its still a factual headline. I'm more concerned with the objectively false information going on about the incident then I am with the wording of any headline.
@@treeforged9097 I like headlines and wording that reinforce reality, my feelings have nothing to do with it
Well said, Michael. I think this demonstrates the importance of critical thinking which is a skill I don't think social media rewards.
Turning to establishment sources doesn't equal critical thinking. They told you Trump had said we should inject, then drink bleach. They told you he "fell" when he was hiding from a gunman, ffs.
The king is not a lizard alien. The Reptoids were ousted when V got cancelled. The new aliens are octopus shapeshifters called Hulhus.
Well ... ok, I'll believe you this time ... if Roger backs you up. I trust Roger implicitly. 🙂
A great message! And of course, tis the season.
A guy once tried to convince me that all my beloved Conan stories were "fiction". Madness!! I mean, can you even imagine? I have a HUGE stack of books with Conan stories. How can they ALL be lying to me?
Of course it's real, Howard was channeling his past lives of a post-diluvian world - as was Tolkien and Aston-Smith and Lovecraft - it all fits! REH was a theosophical devotee, he knew this on some level. And that's why the royal families are lizards.
I believe and I will stand behind my belief that the emperor indeed has no clothes on.
Very good point about being more skeptical of things you’re ready to believe
Not all dapper gentlemen are believable, but this one is.
No worries.
Im even skeptical of the evolution of species!
Everyone should be
Michael’s absolutely right. One time I watched Quinn’s Ideas and he said that the worst book in the Dune series, God Emperor of Dune, was actually the best book. I ended up reading-reading it only to realize he must have been lying (or perhaps somehow likes this droll book).
Part of the problem is that many people think that if something appears on the Internet, it must be true. Also, I don't think many people know what a "reputable source" means. The concept is beyond them.
On RUclips, I enjoy hearing people talk about books I love and books I plan to read, but nonsense like conspiracy theories and baloney about eating specific foods will cure cancer - no!
My response to "did you know it was all a..." has always been 'No. And I still don't'.
Unfortunately, legacy media is even less reliable than YT.
It realy is the dumbest time in all of history, with the most advanced technology powering it.
Love this and it’s very relevant at the moment!
reminding me of tree octopus websites and other early internet things that were fake just to make people think about what other things they saw online that day
More than skepticism... we need to be practicing and teaching discernment.
At a time you realize first hand that common sense is not very common, videos like this restore your faith to people. Thank you Sir.
Very true and timely - thanks.
Outstanding PSA. Having a RUclips channel is too often like using a Jedi mind trick on the unwashed masses.
Good message. What’s that old saying?
“don’t believe anything that people say and only half of what you read”
Very wise words. Misinformation on the Internet has no doubt cost many lives so far (I am thinking all the far-right and far-left hate speech), and will do so again in the future.
Well now I'm really confused 🤨 My pet conspiracy theory is that Michael Vaughan is a shape-shifting reptile king. WEEKEND BLOWN
What? You mean the earth isn't flat???
By the way, I love your research department!
Nice video; timely and cogent. Critical thinking skills are needed more than ever, but seem to be being drowned by the ever-increasing nonsense that is scatter shot through social media.
I think it was a commentator on MSNBC who said that. Anyway, well said.
I’m reading Misbelief by Dan Ariely presently and this comes up as well as other observations on belief / misbelief and why people are drawn into these situations.
That's why I always cite from the books I'm referencing or quoting from. I'm just content about documenting my thoughts on what I read. 😊
Great Video Michael. Once again your are right on topic....although, off topic. Love your stuff. Subscriber Mike.
P.S. You are hilarious!
I appreciate that!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 You do great work Michael. Big Fan.
My JFK assassination conspiracy theory that it was a bad golf shot has yet to be disproved…. Because nobody has bothered to…
This warning goes not just for RUclips but for all social media....
Great thoughts Michael!
10:52 Your research department is SUCH A GOOD BOY! (Scruffs Research Departments ears)
We all know it was just Roger messing with the Necronomicon again 🙄
Butterfly effect bedamned. My first clue to question this channel was having a time traveler and not win the lottery or have a future sports almanac sitting around on the book shelf; hidden in plain sight.
Thanks, we all need reminders sometime because some of us do get lost in the words and adventures in our books.
I believe everything, especially the contradictory stuff.
I am always sceptical when told that Dune is a great book. 😉
I love the crack research department you have on hand! I bet anything going through them has to pass the sniff test 🐶
Skepticism is important. Fact checking is incredibly important. It's unfortunate this is not always practiced by people.
Wait, the King is _not_ a shape shifting lizard? I 'dunno Michael, a friend of my friend's uncle's daughter's second cousin told her otherwise. 😜
Well said. It's not that hard to do your own research. I just think many people are too lazy or genuinely don't know how to research.
Evolution doesn't explain everything it purports to explain (Stephen Meyer). How't that for skepticism?
Evolution does not purport to explain anything. If you think it does then that is proof you don't understand what evolution is. That statement would be like saying that dogs are not as good at computer programming as they purport to be. Dogs do not purport to be able to program computers. That statement is nonsensical, its not skeptical its just an irrational thought that proves you don't know what your talking about. Stephen Meyers has no education in biology what so ever, the average high school student knows as much about biology as he does.
I'm with you 💯%. We need this kind of reminder. You'll probably get a lot of idiotic blowback, but that's to be expected. Critical thinking on social media is like hen's teeth. People used to say, "It's true. I saw it on the TV." Now, "It's true. I saw it on RUclips."
I have a family member born on this day in 1969. As far as I can tell that person is real. I suspect the moon landing is real also. That reminds me. It’s time to say Happy Birthday.
Except for those people who say the earth is flat. They have some really compelling arguments! Oh, and Joe Rogan.
"Believing brittle opinion before solid fact is a bit like putting your shoes on before you put your socks on. In other words, don't do it."
- Me
Your research department seemes very trustworth... and sleepy. Great video and PSA.
Jimmy Olsen's no stranger to a setup. He's been double-crossed more times than a rattlesnake's got rattles.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 a brilliantly made point
But...I believe everything you tell me. Surely you won't steer me wrong, given how many absolutely amazing books I've read as a result of your recommendations!
Roger as a mummy would be very opposed to denialism!
I trust your research department far more than the one at CNN.
I am learning english watching your videos. Undertand the most part, but some words I have to search. I improve my english conforming get imersive it.
If RUclips would allow it you could use Thin Lizzy's 'Don't Believe a Word' as the intro to this! 🤩
The US needs a better education system which teaches critical thinking. As an Australian it is frightening to see the craziness, mendacity and ignorance happening in your political discourse. America is an incredibly divided country and you no longer have a stable democracy and this can only have a negative impact not only on the US but the whole world. Like me you must be really worried to have made this non book focused clip. I hope there are enough people in the US like you who can inject balance and reason into the debate to avert a disaster as institutions and the rule of law are being subverted.
Let’s save the criticism. I have an Ozzie friend and he tells me your discourse ain’t much better than ours. I’ve read the news there as well. Try managing a country with 330M people. You’ve got 20M over there so pls save it.
We have a problem, but I don't know whether "a better education system which teaches critical thinking" is the answer. It COULD be, but I'd want to apply some critical thinking to that claim.
lmao you are in for a wild ride, I will be coming back to see you break.
Robert Anton Wilson nailed this in his book, Prometheus Rising! Perhaps a book for review Mr Vaughan?
"This one simple trick before bedtime..."
You mean that I should be reading James Patterson after all? But I believed you Michael.
Thanks!
It's a damning reflection on modern society that this even needs to be explained to people. I gave up on humanity after these types of people voted for the lies of both Brexit & Trump.
The world gets what it deserves.
Trump 2024!
Well said, well spoken.
I don't know Michael...seems like Government Agent talk to me....🤔😂
You hit my funny bone, Michael.
There is no critical thinking. People jump on bandwagons with an all-or-nothing attitude for one 'side' or another, blindly toadying, mouthing things that they would never believe or hold in their minds and hearts, but this is what THIS SIDE says, or ohmygod, we have to hate or go against the reasonable ir good thing THAT SIDE says. There is no middle ground, no gray areas or personal thinking in most people. There is a lot of automatic hate out there.
This is happening because critical thinking is not taught anymore. When I was at senior school in the 1960s (that's high school to my American cousins), we had class debates, analysis of the news, and real history lessons. We were taught to question everything and weigh it against the information available. The teachers pushed us hard to explain our opinions and position. At university that became even more rigorous. Today, young people are spoon-fed the trend of day and are discouraged for asking for primary source evidence..
Good points, but what sources are people supposed to trust? Complete cynicism is as bad as idiocy IMO. Of course, this isn't your job to answer, but I wonder if any works of fiction tackle the topic?
Might be time to review Why People Believe Weird Things (Michael Shermer). 🙏 It's why I dont speak in my videos, I'm aware of my powers of influence 🤭
Kind of an odd episode.
I don't believe anything anyone says, including you. Even if you say it on CNN.
If it was anyone other than you Michael, I would be very sceptical of your claim that you resurrected Roger by using the Necronomicon. But since it is you, I've parked my scepticism and am willing to accept your claim.
More seriously, by their very nature, conspiracy theories can never be completely eliminated because people will always see links between events or elements even when they aren't really connected.