I don't know if it's age, wisdom or profound jadedness but upon returning to Uni this year I have found myself frustrated by the lack of logic emanating from my lecturers' mouths. Shallow positive sentiment reigns supreme! Unbearable. I often feel like the lecturers are living in a parallel universe. They pontificate for hours without saying anything. Everyone is entitled to their opinion buuuuuut your comments will be remembered when it comes to marking time. I guess University is the opposite of diversity. This book tackles some uncomfortable truths and I found solace in it.
Chapter Review
Authority
The view that public opinion decides truth certainly pervades society. I like how Whyte acknowledges that politicians have given up the pursuit of truth and instead cow-tow to public sentiment.
Prejudice
Its a 'mystery' is a common red herring that I haven't considered before.
I thought a flaw of this book was Whyte's concentration on Religion. His depiction of 'faith' in this section was surely a straw man. I think a lot of Christians acknowledge that God's existence can't be proven either way.
Shut up!
Excellent point on refutation by association. A common debate ender to associate someone with Hitler. Throw it back in their face: Hitler used TP and you use TP...
Empty Words
My favourite section. I often feel that people are phoney. "Perhaps all this inscrutable verbosity is meant to shroud the banality of the ideas". This is Uni all over. Whyte also explores Jargon (consultese), Weasel Words (market forecasts) and Hooray words (Peace, Justice, Democracy).
Motives
Another excellent chapter. Explores the Motive Fallacy (ad-hominem circumstantial). Just beccause someone has a vested interest doesn't automatically disqualify their argument.
The Right to Your Opinion
Rather confusing philosophical digression but I did like the conclusion of this section which states
"when anyone claims a right, the first question to ask is what duties this right is supposed to impose on others; that will tell you what the right is supposed to be."
Statistics
I really need to dig deeper into stats. Great example of sample and self-selection biases.
Morality Fever
Loved this conclusion. Similar to Motive fallacy. Truth is not dependent upon righteousness. No wonder I get so frustrated when people argue like this!
Choice Quotes
"Cynicism, like gullibility, is a symptom of under-developed critical faculties."
“Facts do not depend on opinions about them”
“Suffering does not bestow expertise”
“Something that supports every opinion equally thereby supports none at all."
"All mystery is a mere matter of ignorance"
"We mustn’t confuse being sensitive with being right. Nor rudeness with error."
"The equivocator tries to replace hard intellectual graft with semantic sleight of hand.
playing with words is much easier than tackling reality, and often overwhelmingly seductive for tired policy makers."
"You can’t change the world just by describing it differently, or replacing nasty old words with nice new ones.”