The Power of Logical Thinking: Easy Lessons in the Art of Reasoning...and Hard Facts About Its Absence in Our Lives - Softcover

Marilyn Vos Savant

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312156278 ISBN 13: 9780312156275

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 1997

Synopsis

A classic of critical thinking that is now more urgent than ever!

America has become a society devoid of understanding of the power of logic and numbers. All too often, we rely on our intuition or on empty statistics to formulate opinions about ourselves and our world. As a result of inadequate schooling in the art of reasoning, we have become a people unable to make truly logical decisions, intimidated by numbers, and too passive to reverse this disturbing trend.

The Power of Logical Thinking addresses these concerns, illustrating how you can reason better, how numbers are used against you, and how your vote may be affected. Marilyn vos Savant writes, "We can't trust our intuitions, our statisticians, or our politicians. The 1992 presidential campaign is a case in point. Numbers were used, abused, and misused by the candidates as never before in the history of our country. Voters were easily manipulated, setting a precedent for years to come."

Part One of The Power of Logical Thinking explains the most provocative of the counterintuitive problems that Marilyn vos Savant has encountered in recent years, such as the now classic "Monty Hall Dilemma," the improbability of winning the lottery, and much more.

Part Two shows how statistics have quietly become a tool of persuasion instead of education. In addition to exploring puzzles and paradoxes, this sections explains the underlying reasoning to help you answer questions such as which surgery should you choose? What are your odds of having breast cancer? Do drug-testing and AIDS-testing give you yes/no answers?

In Part Three, vos Savant illustrates how our votes are affected, with examples of selective logic, specious reasoning, and outright sophistry collected from the campaigns of the '80s and '90s...techniques that politicians and corporations still use to manipulate voters today.

About this title

About the Author

Marilyn vos Savant's "Ask Marilyn" column is featured in Parade magazine every Sunday. She lives in New York City.

From Booklist

Fellow English majors, arise! This book is for those of us whose brains stalled when faced with the threat of "word problems" in math class. Vos Savant shows us how even the most well educated can be semiliterate in the arts of reasoning and problem solving. She illustrates how easily we are duped by "counter-intuitive" problems whose solutions run against the grain of instinct. In part 1, vos Savant analyzes examples of these problems, including the famous "Monty Hall Dilemma" that initiated a deluge of mail from irate mathematicians after she posed it in her Sunday column. Part 2 unveils how easy it is to misunderstand mean-spirited statistics. This section also contains fascinatingly thorough descriptions of every conceivable verbal fallacy--a tour de force to delight the number-impaired. Part 3 is an eye-opening analysis of the ways politicians use statistics, "selective logic," and faulty reasoning to sway our votes. Vos Savant's clear, logical approach to convoluted problems is a tonic for anyone who feels queasy around economics, statistics, word problems, or politicians. Patricia Hassler

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0312156278
• ISBN 13: 9780312156275
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 228