Logic v the crowd!

In September 1990, Marilyn vos Savant, known for her “Ask Marilyn” column in Parade magazine and her record-high IQ, received an intriguing question from reader Craig F. Whitaker about the now-famous Monty Hall problem. The problem The question was something like: Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: … Read more

Focalism and related biases

This bias is quite common. Have you ever been in a conversation where you make a thoughtful point, only to have the other person latch onto a single word or phrase and totally miss your intended meaning? This common phenomenon is known as focalism bias, and it can lead to frustrating misunderstandings and derailed discussions. … Read more

Faulty analogies

In the following weeks I’ll be doing an exploration of several logical fallacies and errors of thinking. I’m returning to this area because it is a difficult one to recall a taxonomy of categorised fallacies and errors. There are some 300-plus logical fallacies on record. Most people cannot name one. What’s the importance of this? … Read more