Critical Thinking Lecture 6 Judging Credibility

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Critical ThinkingLecture 6Judging Credibility

• By David Kelsey

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Credibility

• Credible
• to be believable.
• Sources and Claims
• Credibility from reasons

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The credibility of claims

• Claims have credibility
• The credibility of a claim can come in degrees.
• Examples

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Inherent Credibility

• It is reasonable to be suspicious if a claim
  lacks credibility inherently or comes from a
  source that lacks credibility.
• A claim lacks inherent credibility to the extent
  that it conflicts with what we have observed or
  our background information or with other credible
  claims.
• The Mail example

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Limitations to observations

• Limitations to observations
• Dont be so quick to reject claims that conflict
  with observation
• Unreliable observations
• Environmental conditions
• Distracted
• Impaired
• Instruments
• Biases
• Memory

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Background information

• A claim also lacks inherent credibility if it
  conflicts with ones background information.
• Background Information
• that immense body of justified beliefs that
  consists of facts we learn from our own
  observations and facts we learn from others.
• What do you do when a claim conflicts with your
  background info?
• Example
• Palm trees

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The Credibility of sources

• Source
• a person from whom one has obtained some
  information.
• Example
• Bird expert
• Credibility in Degrees
• Example
• The habitual liar

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Irrelevant Considerations

• Irrelevant Considerations
• Examples
• Physical characteristics
• Certain body gestures and postures
• Gender, age, ethnicity, accent and mannerisms.
• Clothing

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Credible sources

• A source can lack credibility for any one of 4
  reasons
• 1. knowledge
• 2. truthfulness
• 3. accuracy
• 4. objectivity

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Biases

• Biases
• To have a bias toward a person, place or thing is
  to favor that person, place or thing over others.
• Biases because of love or jealousy
• Sharpening and Leveling
• a report or story occurs when one exaggerates
  what she thinks is the main point and drops out
  or de-emphasizes details that seem peripheral.

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What matters when judging credibility?

• There are several factors that matter when
  judging a sources credibility
• Education
• Experience
• Accomplishments
• Reputation

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When experts disagree

• When experts disagree
• We must suspend judgment about which expert to
  endorse.
• An expert
• Always expert in a particular field. It is
  someone who is highly knowledgeable in that
  field.
• When might we not need to suspend judgment?

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The Media

• Editing
• Radio and television
• Newspapers
• The Internet
• News magazines
• What sources are credible?

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Talk radio

• Talk radio
• Credibility is questionable because
• News often based on rumor or hearsay
• Selective presentation of the facts

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The news media private businesses

• News media in this country are private
  businesses.
• No govt. control
• The Threat of cancelled advertising

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The internet

• The internet
• Use caution
• 2 kinds of sites
• 1) Commercial and Institutional sources
• 2) Individual and group sites

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Advertising

• Advertisements and Skepticism
• Advertising firms

• Just ask
• Does this ad give us a good reason to buy this
  product?

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Kinds of Advertisements

• There are two kinds of ads
• 1) Ads that offer reasons for buying a product.
• Kleenex example
• 2) Ads that dont offer a reason for buying their
  product
• Ads that bring pleasurable feelings
• Ads that depict the product being used by people
  we admire
• Ads that depict situations in which we would like
  to find ourselves.