023 - The Argument Ninja Difference: Why Critical Thinking is a Martial Art
Release Date: 10/31/2017
038 - Tribal Literacy and Emotional Intelligence
The Argument Ninja Podcast
On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I share the audio from an interview I did with Brittney-Nichole Connor-Savarda for her for a new podcast, Living and Leading with Emotional Intelligence.
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037 - 3 Honest Updates: On Failure, Living With a Stutter, and Accepting My Comfort Zone
The Argument Ninja Podcast
On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk openly about why this is the first new episode I've produced in 7 months, and the lessons I'm learning as a life-long stutterer.
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036 - Understanding Complex Social Phenomena: More Theories of the Causes of Social Polarization
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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.
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035 - Updates and a Street Epistemology Interview
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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 epistemology".
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034 - Understanding the Causes of Polarization (Part 1): Depolarization Initiatives
The Argument Ninja Podcast
In episode 024 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 introduce some general principles for thinking critically about complex social phenomena like polarization.
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033 - Critical Thinking About Conspiracies
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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.
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032 - When Tribalism Becomes Pathological
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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 format.
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031 - New Cartoon Videos Plus a Fall 2018 Update
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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 fall.
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030 - Behind the Scenes of My New Video Course
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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 formats.
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029 - How to Raise a Critical Thinker
The Argument Ninja Podcast
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 thinkers.
info_outlineI’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 out -- how it’s different from what I’m seeing in these other projects.
In this episode I want to talk about these differences. I want to talk about what makes the Argument Ninja Academy special.
There are three areas that I can point to.
- The first is the martial arts inspiration for this project. It goes way deeper than just borrowing the language of belt levels.
- The second is a unique approach to teaching and learning critical thinking and persuasion skills.
- And the third is the instructional design of the project, and the team I’m assembling to help make this a reality. The skill set they bring to the Argument Ninja Academy is powerful.
We’re going to talk about all of this today on the podcast. Specifically, I’m going to talk about
- what it means to be a martial art
- the difference between bujutsu and budo, the Japanese terms for martial art and martial path, or martial way, respectively.
- the martial context of critical thinking, and why this language isn’t just metaphorical
- my own relationship to the martial arts, and the original inspiration for the Argument Ninja Academy
- what teaching and learning look like, when you focus on skill development rather than rote learning
- what I’ve learned from my team partners about thinking clearly and thinking big.