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Science and Superstition
(
Impress Your Friends with Latin)
Why We Believe Weird ThingsLogical FallaciesCritical Thinking 
 
 
 X-Files: Weird Things
•UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle•Ghosts, demonic possession•Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster •Alternative medical therapies•Astrology, Feng Shui, palmistry•Cults, unorthodox religious beliefs•Urban myths and conspiracy theories•ESP, déjà vu, alien abduction
Why do we believe in them? What does science have to say about them? 
 
 
Why We Believe Weird Things
Because everyone else does
•
argumentum ad populum
(many people)
 –Because beliefs are shared by others
•
argumentum ad antiquitatem
(tradition)
 –Because we have long believed so
 
•
argumentum ad verecundiam
(authority),
argumentum ad baculum
(power)
 –Celebrities, politicians, even some scientistssubscribe to weird beliefs, help propagate them
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