Ways to improve logic/critical thinking/reasoning skills

[skierdude1000]

Hey guys,

This seems like a great forum to ask for insightful ideas on ways to improve logic/critical thinking/reasoning skills. I personally consider myself to be very smart, but I feel like throughout school I was never challenged or forced to really develop any logical thinking skills. I'm the guy who scored high on all the tests and got strait As with little effort, but struggle with logic (even though I was in the advanced math tracks). So I'm here to ask you guys for suggestions on how I can make myself better at analyzing things and making critical thinking decisions.

This should improve my poker playing abiliity as well as my daily life choices.



Thanks

[Scotch78]

Practice.

Scott

[David Sklansky]

Just get a logic textbook.

[chezlaw]

If you want to learn in a classroom setting then do a couple of philosophy courses?

chez

[txag007]

David's right. A logic textbook is the place to start. You might also want to look on the internet for some websites dealing with basic logic. Just google it. Oh, and as always, be careful what you read on the internet. It's not always true.

[scalf]

/images/graemlins/grin.gif..

pray to g*d for help..

gl

/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /images/graemlins/club.gif

[Jim T]

You could try looking up the various logical fallacies and work on not falling into them. Wikipedia looks to have a pretty good list:


Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy)

[A_C_Slater]

[ QUOTE ]
Just get a logic textbook.

[/ QUOTE ]


This response is very logical.

[skierdude1000]

Thanks guys. Maybe I have some logic, I just want to improve it. Appreciate all the responses

[BluffTHIS!]

[ QUOTE ]
You could try looking up the various logical fallacies and work on not falling into them. Wikipedia looks to have a pretty good list:


Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy)

[/ QUOTE ]

This is good advice. Just learn how to formulate a syllogism and as mentioned above about how to spot formal and informal logical fallacies. That is all you need.

[Scotch78]

[ QUOTE ]
Just get a logic textbook

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't sampled the entire market by any stretch, but of the half dozen or so I have used, Beginning Logic by E.J. Lemmon was my favorite. It only discusses formal logic though, so you'd have to get something else for informal (i.e. debate) logic.

Scott

[BluffTHIS!]

If it still can be found, The Art of Deception by Nicholas Capaldi is also recommended for it's discussions of fallacies and how they can be used as rhetorical devices to win arguements against those who aren't aware of what is being done.