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Daniel Dennett's seven tools for thinking

I came across the article yesterday, and I fully agree with you, HF.

I love number 6 too (don't waste your time on rubbish) - a good thing to keep in mind when on Facebook. :D

I'm also particularly fond of number 2 (respect your opponent). It's similar to Julian Baggini's Lack of Charity Fallacy - one of my favourite pet peeves.
 
Daniel Dennett is one of the few contemporary philosophers i admire, although his writing can sometimes be a bit dense. This article was very clear, with a lot of good points. For example the false perception of making mistakes as something necessarily bad, and therefore a personal need to hide it:

"I am amazed at how many really smart people don't understand that you can make big mistakes in public and emerge none the worse for it. I know distinguished researchers who will go to preposterous lengths to avoid having to acknowledge that they were wrong about something. Actually, people love it when somebody admits to making a mistake. All kinds of people love pointing out mistakes."

I think it's admirable when someone admits they were wrong and changes their mind in light of new evidence or after a discussion involving different opinions.
 
Orphia Nay said:
I came across the article yesterday, and I fully agree with you, HF.

I'm also particularly fond of number 2 (respect your opponent). It's similar to Julian Baggini's Lack of Charity Fallacy - one of my favourite pet peeves.
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I like rule 2 as well. If I practise hard for the rest of my life I might have a hope of being able to adhere to it.
 
OtakuNutchi said:
I think it's admirable when someone admits they were wrong and changes their mind in light of new evidence or after a discussion involving different opinions.
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When was the last time Dennett made a big mistake in public and admitted he was wrong?
 
Garrette said:
Name a big mistake he made. Then we can see if he admitted it.
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Comparing religion to a mind parasite, thinking that argument will cause people to stop believing in religion. Search for, daniel dennett mind parasite.

Believing in the concept of memes.
 
IllegalArgument said:
Comparing religion to a mind parasite,
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An analogy that many find distasteful; not a literal comparison and not a mistake in the sense you imply.


IllegalArgument said:
thinking that argument will cause people to stop believing in religion.
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I'm not sure he thinks that. If he does, I concur he is in error, but it is certainly not the kind of factual error I thought we were talking about.


IllegalArgument said:
Search for, daniel dennett mind parasite.
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I did, thanks. It was informative.


[qoute=IllegalArgument]Believing in the concept of memes.[/quote]I am not convinced that the belief is mistaken, at least not until you define specifically what he believes in.
 
I was immediately taken by (what I see as) the contradiction between #4, retorical questions, and number 6, where he makes a wildy unverifiable claim (made by others) then supports it with his own retorical question as evidence? Really? i am in no way a philosopher, so someone please tell me, if you are the author, does that give you some sort of hall pass to ignore your own rules?
 
I think symbolic logic should be included in any discussion of thinking tools.

Changed my entire way of thinking, for the better.
 
calwaterbear said:
I was immediately taken by (what I see as) the contradiction between #4, retorical questions, and number 6, where he makes a wildy unverifiable claim (made by others) then supports it with his own retorical question as evidence? Really? i am in no way a philosopher, so someone please tell me, if you are the author, does that give you some sort of hall pass to ignore your own rules?
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I don't see the contradiction.

#4 doesn't say "don't ask rhetorical questions", it says "answer rhetorical questions".
 
IllegalArgument said:
Comparing religion to a mind parasite, thinking that argument will cause people to stop believing in religion. Search for, daniel dennett mind parasite.

Believing in the concept of memes.
Click to expand...

I looked this up also. He actually said that most people are susceptible to "parasitic ideas" that make them submit to potentially harmful behavior. These ideas change over the passage of time. They also adapt, based on the culture they find themselves in.

You have not made the case to show how Dennett is wrong. Also, where did Dennett say anything like what you claim in your first sentence?
 
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