Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias

Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking

Authors: Robert E. Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford

Thinking is an innate ability that most people take for granted. But like writing well or speaking effectively before the public, thinking well is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. In this unique introduction to critical thinking, Robert Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford first lay out the principles of critical thinking and then invite readers to put these principles to the test by examining a series of unusual and challenging case studies. Assembling a wide range of bizarre but actual incidents from many cultures and various time periods, they demonstrate how the tools of critical thinking can help to unravel alleged paranormal events and seemingly mysterious behavior.

What factors led to the “Martian panic” of 1938? Why did many people conclude that an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? How do we explain the panic expressed by otherwise normal Southeast Asian men who came to believe that a contagious disease was causing their genitals to shrink, or the frenzied dance manias that captivated thousands of Europeans during the Middle Ages? Bartholomew and Radford show that reality is very much a social construction, that cultural assumptions play a large part in our judgments about what is normal and what is deviant, and that the use of critical reasoning is our best means of ensuring an objective perspective.

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Chapters

Part 1: The Broad Picture

Chapter 1: Why Develop a Critical Eye?

Part 2: The American Picture

Chapter 2: Was there Really a Martian Panic in 1938?

Chapter 3: The Roswell “Flying Saucer” Crash of 1947

Chapter 4: The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

Chapter 5: New England’s Great Airship Hoax

Part 3: The Cross-Cultural Perspective

Chapter 6: What Is Normal?

Chapter 7: Latah: Strange Mental Disorder or Exotic Custom?

Chapter 8: Exploring Tolerance: Religious Devoutness or Bizarre Ritual?

Chapter 9: Genital-Shrinking Scares

Part 4: The Historical Picture

Chapter 10: The Dancing Mania of the Middle Ages

Chapter 11: The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine

Chapter 12: The Birthplace of the Flying Saucer

Chapter 13: England’s Black Helicopters

Chapter 14: India’s Monkey Man Mania

Chapter 15: How to Recognize Mass Delusions

Sneak Peek

Thinking is an innate ability that most people take for granted. But like writing well or speaking effectively before the public, thinking well is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. In this unique introduction to critical thinking, Robert Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford first lay out the principles of critical thinking and then invite readers to put these principles to the test by examining a series of unusual and challenging case studies. Assembling a wide range of bizarre but actual incidents from many cultures and various time periods, they demonstrate how the tools of critical thinking can help to unravel alleged paranormal events and seemingly mysterious behavior.

What factors led to the “Martian panic” of 1938? Why did many people conclude that an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? How do we explain the panic expressed by otherwise normal African and Southeast Asian men who came to believe that a contagious disease was causing their genitals to shrink, or the frenzied dance manias that captivated thousands of Europeans during the Middle Ages? Bartholomew and Radford show that reality is very much a social construction, that cultural assumptions play a large part in our judgments about what is normal and what is deviant, and that the use of critical reasoning is our best means of ensuring an objective perspective.