And that makes people affected by Mormonism and other cults even more vunerable...

https://www.psypost.org/2021/07/new-study-indicates-conspiracy-theory-believers-have-less-developed-critical-thinking-ability-61347

New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories. In other words, the study suggests that people with greater critical thinking skills are less likely to believe that terrorist attacks are being covertly directed by a country’s own government or that mind-control technology is secretly being used to control the population.

“Regularly, different private and public actors provide homemade tools such as ‘critical thinking skills training programs’ that are supposed to be an effective way of reducing the spread of conspiracy theories,” said study author Anthony Lantian, an associate professor of social psychology at Paris Nanterre University.

“The issue is that essential steps have been skipped. Not only have these tools mostly not been scientifically tested, but to our knowledge, the idea that people who believe more in conspiracy theories have less developed critical thinking ability had never been properly tested. This opportunity came about because, due to circumstances, one of my co-authors took the time to translate a critical thinking ability test in French.”

In two studies, 338 undergraduate students completed a French version of the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, which assessed their ability to understand an argument and formulate a written response to it. They also completed a questionnaire that assessed their general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. In addition, the participants were asked if they thought there was a relationship between belief in conspiracy theories and critical thinking ability.

The researchers found that those who scored lower on the test were more likely to agree with statements such as “Certain significant events have been the result of the activity of a small group who secretly manipulate world events” and “The power held by heads of state is second to that of small unknown groups who really control world politics.”

“Two things can be learned from our two studies. First, the more people believe in conspiracy theories, the worse they perform on a critical thinking ability test. This test is characterized by an open-ended format highlighting several areas of critical thinking ability in the context of argumentation,” Lantian told PsyPost.

Coming from the [maternal side] family I came from, the points made in this piece resonate and make deep sense.

Sure wish someone would have told me all this when I was about ten (and just entering into a long part of my life I still have nightmares about).

I got through "okay," but emotional and intellectual scars still exist, and make themselves known from time to time.

I think that critical thinking skills have more to do with how you interact with the world socially, more-so than how well your logic skills work.

Your logic can help build a good BS detector in most people. But you need to locate the most relevant information before you can make good decisions. So when everyone else is saying "follow the prophet", if the prophet is giving bad advice, then you need to be able to say to yourself "everyone else in the church is wrong and I am right". But you have to be smart about it. You need to use your own brain to draw conclusions. So you might decide to believe the prophet's words on something else because of other sound reasoning. You can never be lazy about your thought process. Never believe something just because someone said it. Cast your logic net wide. Think for yourself. Don't believe what others say unless you have other evidence. Don't make decisions unless you have enough reasonable information to justify your choice.

azsteve Wrote:
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> I think that critical thinking skills have more to
> do with how you interact with the world socially,
> more-so than how well your logic skills work.

Critical thinking is, by definition, about logic.

But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible
Logical, oh responsible, practical
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable
Oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical

I give you 1000 points for quoting Supertramp. That is all I am allowed to give according to my corporate masters who must remain nameless.


HH =)

What a revelation . . . I just don't know what I'm going to do now . . .

I believe only what MSM and the Government tells me!

I have got to check with them on how I am today!

No worries. Intuits, again by definition, don't work by logic or critical thinking.

You can believe whatever you want!

Source, source, source??? If no source it didn't happen or not true!!

Sure. Things happen whether or not sourced. But you make factual claims and then offer no sources or, like above, refer us to Beavis and Butt-head.

Thank you for the sources. They enable people to reach accurate conclusions about your arguments.

Guy, 99% of your posts confirm that conspiracy theorists have less developed critical thinking skills.

We post sources because we value information on whether or not it can be confirmed, not by whatever gives us warm fuzzies about being "idiots-sorry-intuits" or "members of the one true church."

ookami Wrote:
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> Guy, 99% of your posts confirm that conspiracy
> theorists have less developed critical thinking
> skills.

Have you seen some of the things being "fact checked" recently? The idea Covid may have come from a lab is now okay with Facebook etc, but last year it was a so called "conspiracy theory" and would get you removed or banned.

Do we need to get government/fact checker approval on everything we think or do? That's not a democratic free society.

Where is the source for Biden flying with a Presidential call sign???? --- non existent for a good reason!!!

Where is the source for Gitmo being closed ---- no increased action here???

This world needs critical thinkers with 'sources' other than CNN!!!

Yes! Beavis and Butt-head rule!

Seriously, I am enjoying this

It's like hunting for that Wascally Wabbit :-D

Ask him about his spirit guide with curly blond hair…

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2055185,2055392#msg-2055392

…or marrying his mother and granddaughter. Yikes.

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1987871,1988382#msg-1988382

That's a Good one!
Like the way it sort of rolls easily when speak it :-)

Mr. Eyeroll and Facepalmer are both great that way: euphonic and critical at the same time.

My spirit guide quickly appeared in my mind when I read your comment. He showed me what an AFRO, Braids, and other styles would look like and we both agreed he looks more professional with the curly blond hair.

He thinks it is great you remembered something like that from discussions way in the past!

My only desire was to 'open minds' to the possibility of some things not to convince anyone. Since you actually remembered something like that and my past lives ----- I feel some success.

I still have some, what you would consider 'weird' things but they have become commonplace to me to an extent so there is nothing to update you on. My work on this post is done and time for bed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2021 12:39AM by spiritist.

spiritist Wrote:
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> Source, source, source??? If no source it didn't
> happen or not true!!

If someone hides their tracks well enough there will be no source. It's a Catch 22.

Does anyone have a "source" for where Jimmy Hoffa went? We don't even know if he was murdered or not! We just have a bunch of conflicting accounts by alleged eye witnesses.