This past month I was fortunate to be a guest of Xidian University in China for two weeks. On this episode of the podcast I share stories and reflections from my adventures as a first-time visitor to China, and I give an overview of some of the public talks and lectures I gave during my visit. The episode has four distinct parts. The first 20 minutes is stories from my trip and observations about Chinese culture. Then there are three discussions on philosophy, science and critical thinking topics: (00 min -20 min) stories from my trip and observations about Chinese culture (20 min - 30 min) on circular reasoning in the appeal to science and nature to justify social and political views (30 min - 40 min) on the elements of science literacy and why public science education doesn't teach it (40 min - 50 min) on the history of critical thinking in the west, and the challenges of talking about the value of critical thinking to audiences in modern China You can find a photo essay with lots of pics over at the blog at kevindelaplante.com: https://kevindelaplante.com/pics-from-china/ You can support the Argument Ninja podcast at http://argumentninja.com/support/

020 - Critical Thinking in China

The Argument Ninja podcast is dedicated to helping you improve your skills at rational persuasion. Let philosopher Kevin deLaplante introduce you to a unique approach to critical thinking, inspired by martial arts training principles, that combines logic and argumentation with the latest research on the psychology of persuasion and belief.

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On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I share the audio from an interview I did with Brittney-Nichole Connor-Savarda for her for a new podcast, Living and Leading with Emotional Intelligence. Brittney-Nicole's show coincides with the publication of a book she's written on the topic of emotional intelligence, The EQ Deficiency. Topics discussed:   How Brittney-Nichole came to be familiar with my work Definitions of tribalism and tribal psychology The evolutionary roots of tribal psychology; positive and negative aspects of tribalism Definition of polarization, and the effects of increasing polarization Why certain kinds of truth-seeking communication can only happen in the interstitial spaces between ideologically charged tribal zones Why "complexity is unstable" within polarized groups Strategies for improving our emotional intelligence by learning more about, and embracing, our tribal psychology Why "character is contextual", and how we can take advantage of this fact for personal growth Mental models for understanding human nature and social change, and cultivating emotional intelligence  Show notes:  https://kevindelaplante.com/038-tribal-literacy-and-emotional-intelligence/ Video interview on Brittney-Nichole's channel: https://youtu.be/BMPPPw7zeVU  

038 - Tribal Literacy and Emotional Intelligence

On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk openly about why this is the first new episode I've produced in 7 months, and the lessons I'm learning as a life-long stutterer.  https://kevindelaplante.com/3-honest-updates Timestamps 00:00 - 03:12  Introduction 03:12 - 05:23  The move and web consolidation update 05:23 - 07:24  Failing at the one thing I set out to do 07:24 - 13:49  Experiments, consulting side-gigs, and coaching 13:40 -  18:12 Argument Ninja video community meetings—motivations and lessons learned 18:12 - 33:34 My history as a stutterer, and how it's influenced my work  33:34 - 42:44  On accepting my comfort zone 42:44 - 48:46  Retreating from my role as community builder (and trying to understand why) 48:46 - 57:53  My views on social media and how I choose to use it 57:53 - 01:06:22  A new opportunity that changes the equation 01:06:22 - 01:07:50  Wrapping up

037 - 3 Honest Updates: On Failure, Living With a Stutter, and Accepting My Comfort Zone

On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about the difficulty of judging how much we really understand about the causes of complex social phenomena—even if we do lots of research and self-study. To help make the case I’m continuing my survey of different theories of the causes of the increase in social polarization that we’re currently experiencing. On this episode I look specifically at the work of two social scientists who have written extensively on this topic:  Karen Stenner on the “authoritarian” personality type.  Her 2005 book The Authoritarian Dynamic can be read as predicting the expansion of right-wing populism that contributed to the rise of Trump and Brexit. Stenner's work has been influential on Jonathan Haidt's analysis of polarization. Eric Kauffman on the effects of immigration on polarization in white majority countries. His latest book Whiteshift explores how demographic shifts are driving cultural conflict, and how this will likely play out in the longer run.  But before I get to these topics, I give some Argument Ninja Dojo updates, do a recap of episode 034, and present a conceptual model for how we should think about the epistemological challenge of understanding complex social phenomena like polarization. Timestamps 00:00 - 01:22  Introduction 01:22 - 06:31  Argument Ninja Dojo Announcements 06:31 - 11:45  Recap of Episode 034 11:45 - 14:41  Outline of What's to Come 14:41 -  23:40 Argument Matrices and the Problem of Calibrating Our Knowledge 23:40 - 25:48  The Epistemological Challenge of Understanding Complex Social Phenomena 25:48 - 42:44  Karen Stenner: The Authoritarian Dynamic 42:44 - 01:04:35  Eric Kauffman: Whiteshift and "Multivocal" Nationalism 01:04:35 - 01:07:56  Reasons to Think We Know Less Than We Think 01:07:56 - 01:08:44  Reminder: Argument Ninja Dojo Discount Coupon Links Links  Show notes Click here to learn more about the Argument Ninja Dojo and how to sign up using a discount coupon link for as low as $3/month. Karen Stenner's homepage Eric Kauffman's homepage  

036 - Understanding Complex Social Phenomena: More Theories of the Causes of Social Polarization

On episode 035 of the Argument Ninja podcast I share updates on new course development over at kevindelaplante.com, and I share both the audio and the video of a one-hour interview I did with the hosts of the Epistemic podcast, which focuses on "street epistemology".  Click to view the video interview on YouTube (full URL: https://youtu.be/rHQYHUksJFk) Timestamps: 0:56 - Topics discussed in the interview 2:15 - New courses in development on kevindelaplante.com 4:37 - How I'm pitching the new courses 5:12 - First course: Become an Argument Ninja 5:43 - Second course: How to Build a Good Argument (Argument and Reason) 6:11 - Third course: How to Know What You're Talking About (Argument and Knowledge) 7:00 - Fourth course: How to Be Understood (Argument and Communication) 7:32 - Fifth course: How to Win Over Your Audience (Argument and Persuasion) 8:52 - Introducing the interview, "street epistemology", and the hosts 11:57 - Critical thinking versus rational persuasion 13:19 - Two approaches to argumentation 16:34 - Why philosophers are suspicious of rhetoric 17:20 - How I was teaching critical thinking back when I was a university professor 17:33 - Origins of the "critical thinking movement" in higher education 21:12 - Jonathan Haidt's "Elephant and the Rider" model 23:54 - My "core belief network" model for helping strategize conversations 29:50 - The virtues of simplicity and clarity 32:05 - The culture of "smartness" in academia 34:49 - Viewing rational persuasion as a martial art 40:49 - Are there some people who should not be given training in these tools? 43:30 - Why critical thinking has a bad name in some circles 47:25 - Is the term "critical thinking" useful if everyone is willing to claim it? 51:21 - When the critical thinking label becomes politicized 51:53 - Why I avoid talking about my personal views on polarized topics 54:26 - Critical thinking, tribalism and polarization 01:01:35 - Keep your core small 01:01:35 - Is street epistemology part of a "mixed martial arts" approach to critical thinking? 01:08:14 - Can scientists do better at communicating with the public?   Links: Show notes for this episode Video interview on YouTube My promo video for the new Argument Ninja courses Street Epistemology Anthony Magnabosco's channel Reid Nicewonder's channel Daniel Earles' channel  The Critical Thinking Movement in higher education (historical overview)  

035 - Updates and a Street Epistemology Interview

In episode 024 of the Argument Ninja Podcast I'm starting a series of episodes that will explore different models of the causes of social and political polarization, and introduce some general principles for thinking critically about complex social phenomena like polarization. In this episode (Part 1) I examine models of polarization and social change that are implicit in the depolarization strategies of three different depolarizing initiatives: Better Angels, AllSides, and OpenMind.  https://kevindelaplante.com/034-understanding-the-causes-of-polarization-part-1/ Timestamps: 00:00  Why I'm doing a multi-part series on understanding the causes of polarization 06:46  Ideological polarization and evidence for increases 09:36  Affective polarization and evidence for increases 13:12  The depolarization strategy of Better Angels 20:25  The depolarization strategy of AllSides 26:32  Jonathan Haidt and OpenMind 31:48  The four-factor account of the causes of polarization in Chapter 3 of The Coddling of the American Mind 32:22  Loss of a common enemy or challenge 33:53  Social sorting and the emergence of homogeneous political identity groups 38:14  Partisan media and filter bubbles 39:05  Rise of negative partisanship in government 43:24  On the mismatch between individual-level strategies for depolarization, and multi-level, multi-scalar theories of the causes polarization 49:06  Wrapping up Links: Better Angels (https://www.better-angels.org/) AllSides (https://www.allsides.com) AllSides For Schools (https://allsidesforschools.org/) LivingRoom Conversations (https://www.livingroomconversations.org/) OpenMind (https://openmindplatform.org/) The Righteous Mind (https://righteousmind.com/) The Coddling of the American Mind (https://www.thecoddling.com/)  

020 - Critical Thinking in China

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