ARGUMENT NINJA PODCAST ARCHIVE

 

In the summer of 2016 started the Argument Ninja Podcast, where I’ve been exploring new approaches to critical thinking education that balances training in principles of good reasoning with training in the psychology and practice of persuasion.

The podcast is where I work out my thoughts on philosophical issues about the nature of critical thinking, share my evolving understanding of the psychology of influence, persuasion and human reasoning, and develop ideas related to the design of learning programs for critical thinking.

This is also where I’ve been developing a conception of critical thinking as a martial art, and of critical thinking instruction that is modeled on the way that complex skill development is taught in martial arts programs.

Argument Ninja Podcast episodes are indicated by a number before the title. All other entries are blog posts, many of which feature embedded videos (e.g. my video series on tribalism and critical thinking).

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20202019
  • August 28 : 036 – Understanding Complex Social Phenomena: More Theories of the Causes of Social Polarization
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about the difficulty of judging how much we really understand about the causes of complex social phenomena—even if we do lots of research and self-study. To help make the case I’m continuing my survey of different theories of the causes of the increase in social polarization that we’re currently experiencing. On this episode I look specifically at the work of two social scientists who have written extensively on this topic: Karen...
  • May 10 : Video Interview with Bryan Alexander and the Future Trends Forum
    Here is a video interview I did with Bryan Alexander, host of the Future Trends Forum, which is a monthly video conversation about the future of higher education focusing on impacts of trends in digital...
  • April 17 : 035 – Updates and a Video Interview with the Street Epistemology Gang
    On episode 035 of the Argument Ninja podcast I share updates on new course development over at kevindelaplante.com, and I share both the audio and the video of a one-hour interview I did with the hosts of the Epistemic podcast, which focuses on "street...
  • March 5 : 034 – Understanding the Causes of Polarization (Part I): Depolarization Initiatives
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja Podcast I'm starting a series of episodes that will explore different models of the causes of social and political polarization, and will introduce some general principles for thinking critically about complex social phenomena like polarization. In this episode (Part 1) I examine the models of polarization and social change that are implicit in the depolarization strategies of three different depolarizing initiatives: Better Angels, AllSides, and...
  • January 20 : I Write My Podcast (And Everything Else) in Scrivener
    In this video I show my process for researching and writing the scripts for my Argument Ninja podcast (and pretty much everything else I write) in Scrivener. I also show how a structured text document is the foundation for all of the various digital products I create — ebooks, audio podcasts and video...
  • January 11 : 033 – Critical Thinking About Conspiracies
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja Podcast I'm presenting edited versions of last three episodes of my first podcast show that I produced in 2010-11. These were the last episodes I produced of that podcast series, and I discuss why in the introduction. The last three episodes were on the subject of conspiracies and conspiracy...
2018
  • December 19 : 032 – When Tribalism Becomes Pathological
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I share the audio for the three videos I recently produced on Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics. It was designed as one long video presenting one long argument, so the audio works well in this continuous...
  • December 11 : 031 – New Cartoon Videos Plus a Fall 2018 Update
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about the three new videos I recently produced on Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics, and I give an update on what's been keeping me busy this...
  • December 6 : Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics
    In this set of videos I present a framework for thinking about how polarized political and cultural environments interact with our natural tribal psychology to create "pathological tribalism". I show how under pathological tribalism our ability to think critically and independently is compromised. Polarized environments are hostile to critical thinking. (What a...
  • November 4 : Conference Talk at HCC – Critical Thinking and Tribalism
    On Nov 2-3 I had the pleasure of traveling to Houston, Texas, to Houston Community College, to participate in their annual Philosophy & Humanities Conference. I was also fortunate to be asked to give the keynote presentation for this...
  • November 1 : What People Are Saying …
    I have over 30,000 students registered in my four video courses that I host on Udemy, the most popular video course marketplace on the web. Udemy has a very robust student feedback and course rating system, which is obviously important in a course marketplace, but also helpful for instructors to see what's working and what needs improvement. I'm happy to see that my courses have a lot of positive reviews from paying students on Udemy. Here are some with concrete...
  • September 10 : 30 – Behind the Scenes of My New Video Course
    On this episode I talk about the genesis of my new video course, "The Vocabulary of Science: First Steps to Science Literacy", and my decision to start producing the Argument Ninja podcast in both audio and video...
  • August 28 : What is a Fact? A Preview From My New Video Course
    I'll soon be releasing a new video course that will be available on my video tutorial site, Critical Thinker Academy, and on Udemy. The course is titled "The Vocabulary of Science: First Steps to Science Literacy". It introduces some fundamental concepts about the nature of science and scientific reasoning by examining the various ways that scientists and non-scientists use terms like "theory", "fact", "law", "hypothesis", and "model". Below is a sequence of three videos from the course that...
  • August 3 : 029 – How to Raise a Critical Thinker
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about the importance of critical thinking education for kids and teens, and what parents can do to help their kids become better critical...
  • August 2 : Start Building Your Critical Thinking Library
  • June 12 : 028 – Tribalism isn’t the Problem
    On this episode I’ve got an interview lined up for you that I did with Bob Froehlich, who hosts the Thinking Clearly radio program and podcast over at KMUD community radio in Redway, California. Our topic was critical thinking and tribalism, very much in the vein of what I’ve been talking about in my recent sketchbook video series titled, appropriately, "Critical Thinking and Tribalism". If you’ve been following my work a certain amount of this will be familiar, but in this interview we...
  • May 7 : 027 – Updates: Finances, Projects and Plans
    In this episode I answer the most common questions I get about the status of my finances, what my plans are to improve my situation in 2018, what video courses I’m developing for Udemy, and where we are with the development of the Argument Ninja Academy. If you’re interested in entrepreneurship and making a living online doing what you love, I think you’ll find this episode...
  • April 27 : In Our Tribe We Trust
    This is the third in my series of sketchbook videos exploring the theme of Critical Thinking and Tribalism. In this video I discuss the relationship between tribal psychology and trust. What factors determine who we trust to provide reliable information about issues like climate change, gun control, and other issues of the day? More specifically, this episode is a deep dive into the psychology of risk perception. I look at two important forms of "motivated reasoning", AFFECT BIAS and CULTURAL...
  • March 26 : 026 – Feminism, Marxism, Postmodernism and Jordan Peterson: Sometimes the Only Winning Move is Not to Play
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I offer a perspective on Jordan Peterson’s criticism of left-wing ideology (what he calls “cultural Marxism”) by sharing some of my own intellectual history with feminism, Marxism and postmodernism. The broader question animating this episode is: how can I critically engage with challenging ideas without being sucked into a tribal...
  • March 1 : 025 – Why Tribal Literacy?
    On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about TRIBALISM and the challenges that our tribal psychology poses for critical thinking. This episode includes the audio for two sketchbook videos I've done on this topic, "The Dangers of Tribalism" (11 minutes) and "Our Tribal Intelligence" (13 minutes), with additional commentary not found in those videos (25 minutes). I give time stamps below to help you navigate the episode if you've already watched those...
  • February 17 : Our Tribal Intelligence
    Here’s the second in my series of sketchbook videos exploring the theme of “critical thinking and tribalism”. In this episode I focus on the epistemic dimension of our tribal nature. I talk about how social survival strategies played an important role in the evolution of our distinctively human intellectual capacities, by increasing our storehouse of knowledge and skills via the development of CULTURE. I also show how one of the consequences of our socially distributed knowledge is that...
  • January 19 : The Dangers of Tribalism
    Here's the first in a series of sketchbook-style videos I'm doing on the topic of tribalism and critical thinking. I really do think a certain degree of tribal literacy needs to be a part of everyone's critical thinking...
  • January 10 : 024 – How Commerce Became a Tool For Getting Outside My Head
    In this episode I talk about the surprising role that commerce has played in raising the relevance and impact of my work as a critical thinking educator, and other positive highlights of...
  • January 1 : Adventures in Entrepreneurship:
    2017 Year in Review
    The end of the year is always a good time to take stock of one's successes and failures over the past twelve months, think about what lessons can be learned, and chart a course for the future. So here you'll find my "2017 Year in Review". I'm writing this mainly for myself, as an exercise in critical reflection that will help me identify problems, organize priorities and make positive changes in the new year. But I'm also writing for those who may be thinking of pursuing a similar path (a...
2017
  • December 13 : Double Induction and the Appeal to Nature
    This 8 minute video summarizes an important form of confirmation bias involving scientific appeals to nature to justify particular social arrangements. It's a fallacy that has been called "double induction"....
  • November 11 : What Critical Thinkers Can Learn From Actors
    Good actors need to be able to slip into the skin of a character and view the world through that character’s eyes, even if those eyes are very different from their own. They need to cultivate the ability to empty themselves, to forget who they are, temporarily, so that another persona can live through them. As a critical thinker, you need to cultivate a very similar set of...
  • November 9 : Thoughts on Bias and Objectivity in the Media
    Here are four principles for which I believe there is compelling evidence in the psychological and sociological literature on reasoning. They inform how I interpret news and media...
  • October 31 : 023 – The Argument Ninja Difference
    I’ve learned over the past year that I’m not the only one talking about the failings of traditional schooling. I’m not the only academic talking about developing online courses for the public that they can’t find anywhere else. I’m not even the only one using the language of martial arts in this context. (e.g. Jordan Peterson, Thaddeus Russell, Mixed Mental Arts ....). But I realize that even among my audience, it may not be clear how the Argument Ninja Academy is supposed to stand...
  • September 10 : 022 – Thinking Clearly About Critical Thinking: Interview with Kevin deLaplante
    For this episode I’m going to share an interview I did for Thinking Clearly, a radio show about critical thinking hosted by Bob Froelich and Julia Minton. On this live broadcast I answered questions about: - my particular take on what critical thinking is and why it’s important - why I decided to leave my tenured academic job and go solo - what video courses I offer at the Critical Thinker Academy - what I think is wrong with traditional approaches to critical thinking education -...
  • September 3 : 021 – What if Sam Harris and Scott Adams Had a Baby?
    On this episode I use a recent episode of Sam Harris's podcast (#87 - "Triggered: A Conversation With Scott Adams") as a springboard for exploring a variety of topics related to critical thinking and persuasive communication. When it comes to critical thinking and rational persuasion, half of my brain thinks like Sam Harris, and the other half thinks like Scott Adams. Each gets something right that the other doesn’t. I’m interested in identifying what each of them gets right, as a step...
  • July 24 : 020 – Critical Thinking in China
    This past month I was fortunate to be a guest of Xidian University in China for two weeks. On this episode of the podcast I share stories and reflections from my adventures as a first-time visitor to China, and I give an overview of some of the public talks and lectures I gave. The episode has four distinct parts. The first 20 minutes is stories from my trip and observations about Chinese culture. Then there are three discussions on philosophy, science and critical thinking topics: (1) on...
  • May 31 : 019 – Understanding Your Divided Mind: Kahneman, Haidt and Greene
    Argument Ninjas need to acquire a basic understanding of the psychology of human reasoning. This is essential for improving the quality of our own reasoning, and for mastering skills in communication and persuasion. On this episode I take you on a guided tour of our divided mind. I compare and contrast the dual-process theories of Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow), Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) and Joshua Greene (Moral Tribes). The simple mental models these authors use should...
  • April 3 : 017 – White Belt Curriculum (Part 2): The Tao of Socrates
    In episode 017 I give an update on new content at the Argument Ninja website, and I finish reviewing the white belt curriculum for the Argument Ninja Academy program. The third and fourth learning modules in the white belt curriculum are titled "Socratic Knowledge" and "Socratic Persuasion". In this episode I also have an extended case study of a challenging persuasion case over the following issue: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same...
  • February 18 : 016 – White Belt Curriculum (Part 1)
    The Argument Ninja training program that I'm developing is inspired by martial arts training principles. The curriculum is spread over nine belt ranks (white belt, yellow belt, orange belt, etc. ). In this episode I give an overview of the learning modules that make up the white belt curriculum, and dive deep into the second module, an introduction to Argument...
  • January 13 : 015 – The White Belt Experience
    In this episode I explore learning and teaching techniques in the martial arts, from the perspective of the beginning student and from the perspective of the experienced instructor. I extract a number of important training principles from this exercise that I hope to incorporate in the Argument Ninja training...
2016
  • December 22 : 014 – Why CURIOSITY is a Valuable Resource for Critical Thinking
    On this episode I talk about the various ways that curiosity is an undervalued resource for critical thinking. I explain how curiosity plays an important role in generating the kind of background knowledge that supports critical thinking, and why it has important and underrated debiasing properties, meaning that it can reduce many of the harmful effects of cognitive biases on our thinking. I’m also going to talk about my personal relationship to curiosity, and how it has influenced many of...
  • December 8 : 013 – Avatars for Critical Thinking (Brainstorming the Argument Ninja Academy)
    In this episode I talk about how the program I'm developing for the Argument Ninja Academy will differ from the Critical Thinker Academy, and outline my instructional design goals for the new program. I also describe the kinds of personality types, or "avatars", that are most strongly attracted to this kind of material. I've named these avatars the Scientist, the Philosopher, the Persuader, the Analyst, and the Butterfly. Do you see yourself in any of these descriptions? Let me...
  • November 25 : 012 – Trump, Persuasion and Hypnosis
    This is the first episode since Donald Trump won the election, so you know I've got to talk about Trump! In this episode I take up the question that Scott Adams has framed for us: is Donald Trump some kind of "master persuader" who uses persuasion techniques familiar to anyone trained in hypnosis? And is this the reason why he won the...
  • November 3 : 011 – Help Me Build a Candle in the Darkness
    This is a big episode. I give a big-picture overview of where I'm going with the Argument Ninja podcast, brainstorm a new Argument Ninja training program, and give readers an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this...
  • October 27 : 010 – How to Build an Argument Matrix
    Last episode I introduced an important concept for critical thinking, what I call an Argument Matrix. In this episode I talk about the mindset, the tools and the literacy skills that are required to successfully build an Argument...
  • October 7 : 009 – The Argument Matrix (or “How to Know What You’re Talking About”)
    In this episode I introduce an important concept, what I call the Argument Matrix, and two related concepts associated with the Argument Matrix, which I call “argumentative depth” and “argumentative breadth”. These concepts are central to my views on the role of background knowledge in critical thinking. Or to put it more plainly, they’re central to my understanding of what it means to really know what you’re talking...
  • September 13 : 008 – WANTED: Mixed Martial Arts for Argument Ninjas
    If we think of rational persuasion as a martial art, what kind of martial art should it be? In this episode I argue that a mixed martial arts approach is the only one that makes sense. But there’s a problem. Philosophical principles play an obvious and important role in traditional martial arts practices. They don’t seem to play an important role in mixed martial arts (or if they do, it’s not obvious.) An MMA program for Argument Ninjas needs a philosophy grounded in core critical...
  • August 29 : 007 – When Rational Debate is Impossible
    In this episode we do some housekeeping, I answer a student question that updates one of my most important lectures on the rules that have to be satisfied to have a rational conversation - The problem that Sam Harris is struggling with - A Q&A question from Essi on what to do when people "just don't get it" - my original answer to the question "what conditions must be satisfied to have a rational conversation with someone?" - my first amendment: (1) what to do after you’ve recognized...
  • August 22 : 006 – Defense Against the Dark Arts II – Seduce and Destroy
    In this episode look at persuasion through the eyes of seduction experts and the pickup artist community. - why critical thinking educators need to talk about persuasion - why scientific rationality is a social achievement that takes effort and vigilance to maintain - preparing students for life outside the dojo - summarizing our list of persuasion topics - Ross Jeffries as pioneer of the seduction community - NLP, hypnosis and "speed seduction" - Tom Cruise, Frank T.J. Mackey, and...
  • August 12 : 005 – Defense Against the Dark Arts (Part I)
    In this episode I begin with some general points about the science and practice of persuasion, and then discuss the first two of the nine areas on this list. Next episode we'll move down the list. - people skills - selling and marketing skills - seduction skills (including "pickup artist" skills) - magic and mind reading skills - confidence games and the skills of the con artist - persuasion in advertising - persuasion in politics - persuasion in the internet age - power and...
  • August 5 : 004 – The Classroom is My Dojo
    In this episode I explore reasons why standard critical thinking textbooks say almost nothing about the psychology of human reasoning and persuasion. Topics include: argumentation as rhetoric vs argumentation as tool for philosophical reasoning; why Plato was so hard on the Sophists; what it was like being socialized into philosophy as a student; the martial arts training hall as a ritualized space; why the philosophy classroom is like a dojo for training in the martial art of rational...
  • July 28 : 003 – How to Make People Like You
    Is it ever okay to intentionally use unconscious persuasion techniques to get people to like you? We explore this case study in the ethics of persuasion as we follow Derek and Carla on a lunch date. We also discuss persuasion ninjas Dale Carnegie and Robert Cialdini's principles for getting someone to like you, and lessons from South Park on how to get bigger...
  • July 18 : 002 – Why Rational Persuasion is a Martial Art
    In this episode I talk about the relationship between critical thinking and rational persuasion, and why, even though I identify as a critical thinking educator, and I have a website called The Critical Thinker Academy, the focus of this podcast is rational persuasion, rather than critical thinking more broadly. In this episode I push the martial arts theme a little further, and give some reasons to think of rational persuasion as a martial art. And finally, I give an example that...
  • July 17 : 001 – Welcome and Introduction to the Show
    Welcome and introduction to the show. What has drawn me out of podcast retirement to start a new show. Scott Adams on Donald Trump, and the sorry state of political discourse today. Why critical thinking education needs both a theory of how we ought to reason, and a theory of how we in fact reason. Reasons to think of rational persuasion as a martial art....
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