Wise Up! The Critical Thinking Solution To Our Post-Truth Problem

The Oxford Dictionaries authorities designated the term "post-truth" as the "Word of the Year" in 2016. We live in a post-truth era in which emotions and falsehoods often override reason and truth. It is a problem. There is a solution.

Andy was 17 years old and about to start his senior year in high school. On the last long weekend of the summer, he visited his grandparents at their home on a lake. While watching the TV news on Friday evening, Andy's grandfather expressed exasperation at the state of the world and the nature of our post-truth era, with all its irrationality and prioritization of emotion over reason. After Gramps explained the nature of the post-truth problem, Andy asked whether there was anything that could be done to fix it. That weekend, Andy's grandfather gave him a crash course neither had expected.

In a series of short discourses, Gramps outlined and described some of the sources of influence and manipulation that often provoke people to think and behave in ways that may not seem rational, including heuristics, cognitive biases, and propaganda. Then Gramps discussed what he thought everyone could do to promote and maintain independence of thought and action. The weekend ended with an explanation of the nature of logical reasoning, critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and how to improve the nature of public discourse. Andy considered the lessons he learned that weekend to be an awakening.

The dialogue in this book may serve as an introduction to the study of psychology, logic, and critical thinking for students of all ages.

Andrew Kavchak studied political science and law. He spent his career as a public policy officer in the Canadian federal government bureaucracy. His father was a professor of philosophy who specialized in logic.