Tag Archives: evaluating evidence

What does it mean to be a skeptic?

It is good to be skeptical about everything that you hear and read. In fact, skepticism is one of the defining characteristics of a scientist. Nevertheless, terms like “skeptic” and “open-minded” are often misappropriated by people in the anti-science movement, … Continue reading

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7 easy ways to lose a debate

One of the saddest statistics about my life is the amount of time that I spend pointlessly debating anti-scientists. Having devoted so much time to this endeavor has, however, allowed me to observe certain patterns and trends in their debate … Continue reading

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The Rules of Logic Part 6: Appealing to Authority vs. Deferring to Experts

The appeal to authority fallacy (a.k.a. argument from authority) is easily one of the most common logical fallacies. This is the fallacy that occurs when you base your claim on the people who agree with you rather than on the … Continue reading

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What would it take to convince you that you were wrong?

In debates, I often ask people what it would take to convince them that they were wrong, and, much to my amazement, they frequently tell me that nothing will ever make them change their minds. What’s even more astounding is … Continue reading

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“If evolution is true where are the missing links?”

This is one of the most common arguments that I hear from creationists. The claim is that if evolution is true, then in the fossil record we should see lots of intermediate species. In other words, we should see transitional … Continue reading

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