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The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
- How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake
- Narrated by: Steven Novella
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
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Summary
An entertaining and all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking for the age of misinformation.
In this tie-in to their popular The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Steven Novella, along with 'Skeptical Rogues' Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella and Evan Bernstein, explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths, fallacies and conspiracy theories (anti-vaccines, homeopathy, UFO sightings and many more.) They'll help us try to make sense of what seems like an increasingly crazy world using powerful tools like science and philosophy.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is your guide through this maze of modern life. It covers essential critical thinking skills as well as giving insight into how your brain works and how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking. They discuss the difference between science and pseudoscience, how to recognise common science news tropes, how to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy colleague of yours and how to apply all of this to everyday life.
As fascinating as it is entertaining, this enthralling audiobook is your essential guide to seeing through the fake news and media manipulation in our increasingly confusing world.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.
Critic reviews
"A fantastic compendium of skeptical thinking and the perfect primer for anyone who wants to separate fact from fiction." (Richard Wiseman, author 59 Seconds)
"Thorough, informative, and enlightening...If this book does not become required reading for us all, we may well see modern civilisation unravel before our eyes." (Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry)
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- Thephou
- 04-10-21
Wonderfull sourcebook
Great book about critical thinking. Very important information and tools to cope In our modern world.
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- "tormod"
- 19-02-24
A solid foundation for a fact based world
The crew of the SGU, read by Steven Novella, delivers an A-Z rendition of the skeptical tool kit.
It's not given that every human dialog should be fact based or scientifically accurate, but everybody who care about truth, transparency and collective human endeavors should be able to present and consume a position based on its factual standing and adjust your position as new information becomes available.
And find that the world becomes more fascinating and breathtaking than your imagination could make it.as the true world reveals itself to you through the eye of the skeptic. To build your understanding of the world and hone your skeptical chops in the society where both information, disinformation and misinformation fights for your mind.
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- Jussie
- 23-08-23
Comes across as a bit egotistical
It's very revealing about arguments and bias, unfortunately, it is swamped with references to both good and bad research, so much so it seems tricky to find the point of his rambling. He appears to have a huge aversion to pseudo-scientists too. Quite the rant.
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- Kefuddle
- 28-05-23
Great Performance but Empty Rhetoric
In a nutshell, this book conflates extreme nonsense such as ghost hunters with climate sceptics. This book promotes the political concept of a consensus as scientific fact. Not one single serious scientific topic for which there is polarisation and disagreement was tackled. Instead example after example of their stunning takedowns of ghost hunters, faith healers and the whole panoply of snake oil salesmen in general. This book is a manual on how to use sceptical terms to effectively mask appeals to authority and ad-hominem derision such as labelling anti-vaxers as conspiracy theorists (that didn't age well) and the old 'but it is peer-reviewed science' defence.
On the plus side, there is some talk of p-hacking, but it is dismissed as not that relevant, and other scientific problems such as publishing bias, mates-review (aka fake peer review), circular references, salami slicing, significance testing flaws were not tackled properly if at all.
All in all, a shallow and agenda-driven attempt to steer the notion of scepticism as acceptance of reported (i.e. what they call mainstream) scientific opinion and quite an intellectually dangerous read for the uninitiated.
If you want a window into the world of disinformation and scepticism, start with Nassim Taleb's The Black Sawn. Probably the most unbiased and objective perspectives of reality out there.
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- Anonymous User
- 17-12-22
Should be read by all
This is not a self-help book, but a useful, educational and entertaining guide to ourselves, mostly on how to understand and try to overcome our own biases, cognitive traps and misconceptions. This book should be read by all. Humanity would be better off.
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- Mjl
- 24-08-22
Critical thinking gets serious.
An antidote to cultural hypnosis, delusion, wish thinking, denial, and a demonstration of the truth-seeking potency of the grey blob between our ears.
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- greg fuller
- 07-08-22
Do yourself a solid relax & listen to this work
A wonderful experience delivered to the gold standard i have learned to expect from this small band of rogues! 😉 The world needs more critical thinkers... yesterday.
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- sean mullins
- 18-01-22
Great book to teach you critical thinking.
Loads of interesting topics covered to start you on the road to critical thinking and makes you aware of the amount of pseudo science that exists today.
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- Mattia Carbone
- 23-05-21
Great introduction to Skepticism, and good listen.
Easy listen, I would definelty raccomomend as a good intro to critical thinking and Skepticism, and why they matter.
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- Eggman
- 19-12-20
Pretty much everything you need to know
A fantastic compendium. Really helps you understand how humans can be simultaneously brilliant and flawed.
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