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Red Flag 1: Aincent Wisdom-blood letting

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Red Flag 1: Aincent Wisdom-blood letting

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Definition:

The Ancient Wisdom red flag allows for the belief of ancients knowing more than todays scientists. There was very little accurate or useful information known about sciences during ancient times. Thus, it is very illogical and backwards to think that ancients had a better understanding of anything compared to modern-day science.

Connection:
This article goes into detail about the famous practice of blood letting, used several thousands of years ago. Believed to originate from ancient Egypt, it spread to Greece and other places. Doctors would often use this method as a first resource to solve nearly anything. By opening a vein with a lancet and using a sharp piece of wood, the vein would be sliced and blood would pour out. This would "cure" migraines, fevers, seizures, flu's, sore throats, etc. Ancient physicians believed all illnesses, regardless of how bad they may be, were caused by an overabundance of blood within the body. We can now apply the critical thinking process to understand how blood letting has never been a correct way to solve illnesses of any kind. Modern-day medicine has proven that the amount of blood a person has in their body does not coordinate with becoming ill, but rather the cell count or bacteria. Removing blood from our body does not cure us but by taking antibiotics that fight the bacteria is what cures us.

Source: https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bloodletting

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Red Flag 2:Appeal to Authority  (Article) -(Donald Trump)

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Red Flag 2:Appeal to Authority  (Article) -(Donald Trump)

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Definition:
The Appeal to Authority red flag is the use of authoritative imagery to endorse or promote a product, regardless of the qualification or experience someone has. They can use their figure in the media to bring their believers towards a product.

Connection:
This article has highlighted Trumps numerous claims and his ideas about vaccinations. It also dives into the times he has publicly made these claims, lining up with him being in and out of office. With absolutely no evidence, Trump has made many claims that the rising numbers of autism within children has been link to vaccines. While running for president in 2016, many anti-vaxxers felt at ease with the position he was in and as if the government would no longer have so much control over them. Of course, that leads to those following him believing in what he is saying. This raises the question: Does Trump really believe in the statements he has made or was it a way for him to get more votes for his chance at president? Does Trump have any background or knowledge in vaccinations? Do scientists agree or disagree with these claims? If we apply critical thinking, it might help us see a clearer answer to whether the statements he is saying are accurate or not.

Source: https://www.insider.com/how-donald-trump-became-an-anti-vaccinationist-2019-9

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Red Flag 3: Mystical Energy (Crystals , etc.) (IMAGE)

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Red Flag 3: Mystical Energy (Crystals , etc.) (IMAGE)

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Definition:
Mystical Energy is a very common red flag that can be found in every aspect of a person's life. Virtually every type of pseudoscientific claim credits some for of "energy". They all may be plausible, yet there is not enough scientifical evidence to make it practical in reality.

Connection:
The photo above contains crystals that some people claim have mystical powers. Many believe that crystals have healing properties. Healing crystals can be tied back to ancient civilizations like Rome, Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were also found in India. Different crystals have different abilities. Some provide emotional and psychological support, while others help ease health issues. There is no scientific evidence that backs up the claims that these crystals have healing abilities. It is important to critically evaluate the cases where crystals have actually healed people.  Are healing crystals actually effective, or are they the result of a placebo effect?

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Red Flag 4: Confirmation Bias (Article)(Egyptian Religion)

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Red Flag 4: Confirmation Bias (Article)(Egyptian Religion)

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Description:
The red flag Confirmation Bias is what we call our tendencies to remember events that coincide with our beliefs and ignore those that do not. People will often look for evidence that supports their claim and disregard any information, no matter how logical, that does not agree with their stand or belief.

Connection:
Ancient Egyptian civilizations believed that the gods were in control of their prospects and earnings. They believed that in order to have a good farming season, they must keep the gods pleased. Farmers depended on the Nile's flooding, who they believed was controlled by gods, in order to grow their crops and feed their animals. If there was a drought, the people would perform sacrifices in order to satisfy and appease the gods. Egyptians created myths and worshipped gods that were assigned to natural forces due to the lack of technological advancements. They focused solely on the times that they would get punished, and related it to someone doing something that could possibly upset the gods. With all the resources that the have nowadays, it is easy to use the critical thinking process and come to the conclusion that nature is not controlled by mythical beings, but in fact due to scientifically proven factors. By looking at the bigger picture, it makes it easy to see that "punishments from the gods" were actually coincidences, and were in fact related to outside factors, and not that the people had upset the gods.

source: https://classroom.synonym.com/ancient-egyptian-religion-affected-farming-10487.html

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Red Flag 5: Red Herring: (Video) (Old Spice Ad)

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Red Flag 5: Red Herring: (Video) (Old Spice Ad)

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Definitions:
The Red Herring red flag that distracts you from following a logical line of evidence. These distractions are irrelevant pieces of information to throw into an argument, to keep your mind off of the main topic. They are a favourite piece to conspiracy theorists.

Connection:
There are many random questions and almost demands. The narrator asks a question and then answers it himself, Beginning with asking the viewer , "Where can you go when your man smells like me?" The narrator asks this on a beach, then changing to a snowy mountain, after showing the mountain, the man holds up a goat, that turns into a harp, another random scenario. He randomly lights off fireworks, and then the scene turns into the ocean. , never allowing time for any questions to be answered or staying on track with one thought, making the advertisement very entertaining. there is no relevant information provided regarding the topic. It only gives irrelevant information about the product to the viewer. With the commercial being the major advertising method, the viewer has only been distracted about Non - meaningful information for the product.

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Reason for Belief 1: Unexplained (Magician)

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Reason for Belief 1: Unexplained (Magician)

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Definition:

Unexplained refers to a situation where a person holds a belief, but can not provide reasons to support it or are unable to explain why they hold that belief. This leads to them trying to explain the unexplained themselves.

Connection:

When a magician does a magic trick, we do not know how they did it but we believe that there is an explanation. We know that it is not magic, therefore, the belief is based on rational analysis and evidence rather than wonder and mystery. We try to consider another explanation for it such as sleight of hand, misdirection, or hidden mechanisms that the magician uses to create an illusion. On the other hand, there are those who do believe in magic and think the magician has supernatural abilities, however, they go along with the majority of those who do not think it is real. This supports Group-think in Barriers to Critical Thinking where a person believes others in order to avoid being viewed as different.

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Reasons for Belief 2: Patternicity (Formation of Clouds)

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Reasons for Belief 2: Patternicity (Formation of Clouds)

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Definition:

Patternicity is the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns or connections in random or ambiguous stimuli. This results in the formation of beliefs based on the patterns we see.

Connection:

When a person looks up at the clouds, they may interpret the shape of the clouds as a face, animal, or object. Although the clouds themselves are shapeless and do not have defined features, our mind creates a recognizable image. When we make sense of the environment around us, it leads to the formation of beliefs about what the shape of the clouds could possibly represent. However, these interpretations are solely subjective and based on what we perceive the clouds to be. Patternicity influences our perception of the world even in the absence of factual evidence.

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Reasons for Belief 3: Agenticity (Aliens)

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Reasons for Belief 3: Agenticity (Aliens)

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Definition:

Agenticity is the tendency to assign meaning to agents even when they may not be justified by evidence such as invisible beings.

Connection:

When a person sees unusual lights in the sky or strange markings on the ground, they may make the claim of alien activities. This belief in aliens represents a form of agenticity as it involves attributing intentionality to a phenomena that lacks empirical evidence of alien involvement. This supports Distorted View of Truth in Barriers to Critical Thinking because we hesitate in what we should believe. There is a lot of information in today's media of possible sightings or proof which makes us struggle with discerning what is fact and not. However, Skeptics could debunk the belief of aliens by using critical thinking.

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Pseudoscience 1: Money is Often Involved - News Broadcasters

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Pseudoscience 1: Money is Often Involved - News Broadcasters

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Definition:

Money is Often Involved refers to a situation where the person is being paid to supply the information. This can lead to the person stretching the truth to make sure they get the money they want.

Connection:

With news channels and programs, they supply information to the public. The more viewers they have, the happier they are. They are happier since the more viewers they have, the more money they make. If a news channel were to just post the full basic truth and get straight to the point, then they wouldn't have much to fill the time and keep people watching. This means they must stretch out their information with exaggeration, misleading stories, and not always do they do the proper research. They don't always do the proper research since they want their "breaking news" out right away to keep people watching to make more money. This leads to later on if they were wrong, they just mislead thousands of people.

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Pseudoscience 2: Does Not Progress - Big Foot

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Pseudoscience 2: Does Not Progress - Big Foot

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Definition:

Does Not Progress refers to a situation where the information you are reading does not come to a conclusion. It feels like after reading, you actually didn't read anything. They keep providing information in a way to make you believe but then disproves it right after.

Connection:

Big Foot sightings have been talked about since the 1930's. Since then there have been countless evidence brought out to be disproven. Theses day's all the articles you read start off with information to grasp your attention, make you gain some belief, just to be disproven right after. After reading, I felt like I wasted my time since every pointer made started with hinting at Big Foot being real and then they explain why the evidence is fake or not legit. If writers were to just say for each piece of evidence brought forward is not legit or wrong, they wouldn't have much to write and therefore, not have much of a article at all. They stretch out their answers to have enough to write.

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Pseudoscience 3: Deliberately Creates Mystery - Pyramids of Giza

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Pseudoscience 3: Deliberately Creates Mystery - Pyramids of Giza

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Definition:

Deliberately creates mystery means the writers deliberately adds mystery to keep you intrigued in the story to hide the fact that there is not much evidence and information that is actually not being provided.

Connection:

The history of pyramids is very mysterious. A lot is not known about the pyramids and when watching a documentary, the writers like to prolong their truth to keep you on the end and fill you with mysteries to make you keep watching. Although the evidence they have is very minimal, they get you waiting for it but making it sound important and a big deal. This causes them to hit their target of the length of the documentary.

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Pseudoscience 4: Often Appeals to Emotion - Psychic

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Pseudoscience 4: Often Appeals to Emotion - Psychic

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Definition:

Often Appeals to Emotion refers to a persons belief being affected by their emotion. For example the person wants it to be true because it will make them happy.

Connection:

A psychic is a person who can tell you your fortune, your future and stuff in life that you don't know. They are proven to be able to tell your fortune and be believable because they have the skill of reading your body language and ask you many questions, they are also sometimes vague with their answers. A big reason why they are effective is a psychic will prey on your emotion. For example if a loved one recently has died and you want to communicate one last time, you are so much more likely to believe since you want it to be true so badly.