How to solve the hardest problems using mental tools, to conduct difficult debates without getting caught in dirty tricks.
In the audiobook, Daniel Clement Dennett—one of the leading world experts in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of science—explores the phenomenon of thinking tools: “driving things to absurdity,” the Rapoport rules, Sturgeon’s law, Occam’s razor, “goulding,” “jumping out,” “deepity,” rhetorical questions. He not only describes how the greatest scientists used all these tools—from Plato and Isaac Newton to Richard Feynman and Richard Dawkins—but also demonstrates clearly how any person can use them to solve a wide range of tasks and conduct a wide range of disputes. Special attention is given to a tool he calls “intuition pumps”—thought experiments capable of stimulating “intuitive insight” and literally working miracles.
As of now, the legendary scholar’s latest audiobook—dedicated to the study of thinking tools—belongs to one of the leading specialists in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of science.
What is “deepity” and how is it dangerous? Which techniques in a debate can be considered dishonest? How lenient should we be when criticizing an opponent’s views? How do we even understand one another? Does truth exist, and can we grasp it? In this book, the legendary Daniel Dennett investigates the phenomenon of thinking tools—techniques that can greatly help solve almost any problem or shift your perspective so you can look at an issue from a new, unexpected angle and then find an equally unexpected answer to a long-tormenting question. The Rapoport rules and Sturgeon’s law, Gould’s “tustep” and Occam’s razor, driving to absurdity and “jumping out,” rhetorical questions and intuition pumps—Dennett doesn’t just analyze the most interesting thinking tools in detail; he also illustrates how philosophers of antiquity and leading modern scholars used them, and how we can use them too. The scientist himself says that, “armed with these simple universal tools of thought, you will be better prepared for further inquiry: you will see possibilities, hear warning signals, sense traps, and watch out for mistakes that you might otherwise make.”