Category Archives: Critical Thinking

Some of the posts are examples of critical thinking, rather than being about critical thinking

Where do we come from, who are we, and where are we going?

Posted on December 2, 2020 by

Preface.  This is a book of review of The Social Conquest of Earth, in which E. O. Wilson answers these questions.  Although tribes have invented thousands of creation myths since paleolithic times, Wilson finally has written a book explaining our … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Evolution, Natural History, Religion | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Where do we come from, who are we, and where are we going?

Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries

Posted on November 17, 2020 by

Preface. In the half dozen science magazines and newspapers I get, almost the only environmental stories are about climate change. Yet there are 8 other ecological boundaries (Rockström 2009) we must not cross (shown in bold with an asterisk below) … Continue reading →

Posted in Acidification, Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Climate Change, Critical Thinking, Peak Oil, Planetary Boundaries | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Book review of “The Death of Expertise: the campaign against established knowledge and why it matters”

Posted on November 5, 2020 by

Preface.  Those who attack experts are exactly the people who will not read this book review (well, mainly some Kindle notes) of Nichols “The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters”. They scare me, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Political Books, Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Book review of “The Death of Expertise: the campaign against established knowledge and why it matters”

Russia has been bombarding Ukraine with fake news since 2014. Sound familiar?

Posted on February 13, 2020 by

Preface.  Long before Russia bombarded the U.S. with fake news in the 2016 election campaign, Ukraine was the target, where Russia honed its propaganda skills. The parallels with their fake news assault on the U.S. are striking, perhaps if more … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Oil shock collapse, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Nothing is true & everything Is possible: the surreal heart of the new Russia by Peter Pomerantsev

Posted on February 10, 2020 by

Preface. In light of how greatly Russia influenced the election of Trump, it’s worth reading this book to see how Russia has used propaganda to control their own people, keep Putin in office, and in general how the rule of … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption & Finance, Critical Thinking, Financial | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Why technology can’t solve all of our problems

Posted on September 13, 2019 by

I have many posts about energy contraptions that have had hundreds of thousands of breakthrough stories in the media, yet here we are, without powerful enough batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and so on to replace fossil fuels despite the exciting … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Transportation | 2 Comments

Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible

Posted on May 15, 2019 by

What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Critical Thinking, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Electricity Infrastructure, Renewable Integration | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Jacob Tanenbaum: Creation, Evolution and Indisputable facts

Posted on December 27, 2018 by

Preface. And you wonder why Trump got elected?  Evangelists are 25% of voters, and 80% of them voted for Trump. Clearly they can’t think clearly. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Religion | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The dangers of relativism, of not being able to criticize anyone or anything because all of our beliefs are equal

Posted on September 4, 2018 by

[ I’ve been criticized for attacking right-wing Republicans, fundamentalist Christians, astrology, medicinal quackery, and so on.  This is dangerous nonsense. It means I can’t criticize Hitler, because after all, he was a product of his times.  I can’t tell my … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Fantasyland 9. Myths and infotainment

Posted on August 28, 2018 by

Preface. This is the last of the Fantasyland review series. Links to the 9 parts of this book review:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking and Scientific Literacy, Human Nature | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Fantasyland 9. Myths and infotainment