The Thinker's Guide to Fallacies: The Art of Mental Trickery and Manipulation (Thinker's Guide Library) Paperback – January 1, 2012

Puts into words what I have been thinking my entire adult life.Should be required reading in high school.Not too long. Gets the concept across in about 50 pages.

My female domestic violence abuser had this book. It was a gigantic red flag, which I ignored. I take accountability. Within a few months of living together, I had to call police and have them escorted out of the house. In addition, they were served an order of protection. They left and deleted all of their social media accounts, practically vanishing from the face of the Earth due to the embarrassment they felt that they were caught trying to implement these dirty tricks on me.Thankfully, I'm an ethical person and I know how to protect myself. I calmly recorded all of their abuse. She implemented almost all of these tactics, but failed miserably because I have a strong Catholic background and could tell something was off in their mind from very early on.It's disappointing and disturbing to see this is the game plan they were trying to implement. Now they're alone and miserable. Nobody wants an aging narcissist. They have a long, solitary life ahead.I firmly believe the Holy Spirit saved me from their abuse. It's now my job to read this book 20 times, become an expert, and educate other so they can identify when they've ran into a person that's unethical and immoral. I believe I can save many lives from domestic violence and extortion by raising awareness on the contents from this book.My advice is that if you really want to get ahead in life, read the proverbs in the Bible. They're in plain English and they teach you the blueprint to a good life. Cheap manipulation techniques will only take you so far, until eventually you run into someone who's way smarter than you and knows exactly who you are and what you're trying to do. It's not going to pan out well for you. People talk, and when you screw someone over, word gets around of who you are. Once your reputation is ruined, you can't recover.

I bought this book to improve my thinking and to help my parents (huge Rush Limbaugh fans)to see the light and stop listening and believing everything that somebody says just because they act like they know what they're saying. As neither a Republican nor a Democrat, I let my mother borrow this book for a few days.She completely missed the point, and proceeded to underline things in the section about education not meaning that you are going to escape the prejudices and imbalance of thought, but that you often times just create a more sophisticated rouse. Skipping over the part about non-critical thinkers entirely, which is what she needed to see. This book is powerful in that sense, some people aren't ready for it, or they don't want to understand. So if you're comfortable in your own little shell and ideologies that you've built up with the little walls around you, and would rather not know the truth, then stay away from this book.Also, I found the book at my parents house after letting my mom borrow it and I took it back with me. She later told me that she didn't intend to give it back and that she was going to pitch it. THIS BOOK'S AWESOME!

Paul, Elder, and the whole "Foundation for Critical Thinking" (criticalthinking dot org, not dot com) take on that question, and take it on as a personal responsibility. Well it is, isn't it?This brief (50-60 pp.) pamphlet starts with a brief description of who the manipulators are and why they manipulate - a discussion that could have gone on at much greater length. They address briefly some of the necessities of thought that most often find themselves abused. I find analogy to fat and salt in our diet, as necessary nutrients that become unhealthy or toxic when used to excess, much the way generalization allows abstract thought but can be subverted to serve absurd and toxic purposes.The pamphlet's core presents 44 Dirty Tricks of thought and argument, fallacies that invade our front pages like kudzu strangling a tree. "Ignore the Main Point," "Make sweeping, glittering generalizations," "Create false dilemma," - it's a great list, but more of a basis for discussion than an exhaustive taxonomy. A few historical examples follow, leaving me thinking of biology classes that follow anatomy lessons with dissections of small critters to show how the theoretical truth plays out in a world of unique examples.I'm not sure how this would fit any high school curriculum I ever saw, but home schoolers (the serious kind, not the religious separatists) will be able to take this one to the streets, to TV, newspapers, and just about any serious discussion of anything. As with a dissection, the student might find a few stomach-turning moments, but will come away with even better knowledge because of them.- wiredweird

Had this book "issued" to me as part of a military professional development course I went to several years ago. While talking to a co-worker a few years back I gave it to him. Glad to have found a Kindle version so that I can have it with me on my iPhone or iPad (or Mac) at all times. Now if my job would only allow the use of anything but IE I could use Kindle for the Desktop as well.

Excellent book. Clear solid definitions. Well organized and with meaningful examples. The book even has practice text for you to demonstrate your skills.

A great tool to help navigate the political discourse. If you appreciate logic, reason and critical thinking, I think you will enjoy this book.