Two people with very different backgrounds and views on life discuss a wide range of topics from science to society, culture to creativity, politics to psychology and much more. Irreverent, light-hearted conversations about the topics that matter in life, because some things are too important to be taken seriously.
https://www.cynicandoptimist.com
episode 22: Critical Thinking Versus Appeals To Authority
Episode 21: Exploring the pros and cons of critical thinking versus appeals to authority. This episode includes the false authority of financial experts and central banking (and the priesthood), Muna and Alex swapping metaphorical chairs, the illusion of critical thinking, internet fact-checking fallacies, and how to get smarter. Also included are Muna's challenge to Foucault and Kant, questioning one's own bubble, the willingness to err, brief trips to Wuhan and Myanmar, and suppression of dissent by authority, with a nod to Flat Earth Theory, the Wizard of Oz and Galileo. We debate whether hardship leads to critical thinking and take a fond look back to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Off with their heads!