Are Conspiracy Theories Really on the Rise?

Filings

“A ‘conspiracy theory’ is a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot, usually by powerful conspirators…. These conspiracy theories are not simply restricted to a fringe population.

Discussion

The problem of living inside echo chambers

Filings

“When a person gets all their news and political arguments from Facebook and all their Facebook friends share their political views, they’re in an epistemic bubble. They hear arguments and evidence only from their side of the political spectrum. …An echo chamber leads its members to distrust everybody on the outside of that chamber.

Discussion

Handling Controversy With Rules of Persuasion

Filings

“No matter the theological issue, we can be sure that a litany of quick-fire responses often only exacerbate the issue for those who are in need of biblical instruction and theologically nuanced clarity. To that end, I would suggest that the antiquarian tripartite modes of persuasion (i.e.

Discussion

From the Archives – Toward Arguing Better

Aaron Blumer

Conservative Christianity needs more people who argue well. It does not need more people who quarrel well!

Scripture opposes quarreling, along with the behaviors the KJV renders as “strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings” and “tumults” (2 Cor. 12:20). But arguing is something else. Scripture calls us to argue and to do it well. Every Christian is obligated to develop and exercise the skill of thinking and communicating clearly with the goal of persuasion.

Discussion

Is the Bible Anti-Intellectual?

Aaron Blumer

Viewed in isolation, some passages of Scripture seem to convey that there is a special danger in the human intellect—danger that is greater than the hazards of, for example, “the heart.” Sadly, these passages are often viewed “in isolation” in churches strongly influenced by revivalism, romanticism (see also IEP), or both.

Used as slogans, passages like the following seem solidly anti-intellectual:

Discussion

Why Bad Arguments Are So Persuasive

Filings

“Sixteenth-century scholar Richard Hooker saw this problem unfold in his time over a question of governance for the Church of England. In his work, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Hooker explains the kinds of arguments made by his contemporaries in this debate, while shedding light on why bad arguments manage to persuade large numbers of people.” - Intellectual Takeout

Discussion

The Creepy Normalization of Bulverism

Filings

“Bulverism is a toxic hybrid of two better-known fallacies: petitio principii (begging the question) and ad hominem (impugning one’s opponent’s character without addressing his argument).” - Intellectual Takeout

Discussion