Podcasts about argument ninja

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. Brittney-Nicole's show coincides with the publication of a book she's written on the topic of emotional intelligence, The EQ Deficiency. Topics discussed:  How Brittney-Nichole came to be familiar with my work Definitions of tribalism and tribal psychology The evolutionary roots of tribal psychology; positive and negative aspects of tribalism Definition of polarization, and the effects of increasing polarization Why certain kinds of truth-seeking communication can only happen in the interstitial spaces between ideologically charged tribal zones Why "complexity is unstable" within polarized groups Strategies for improving our emotional intelligence by learning more about, and embracing, our tribal psychology Why "character is contextual", and how we can take advantage of this fact for personal growth Mental models for understanding human nature and social change, and cultivating emotional intelligence Show notes: https://kevindelaplante.com/038-tribal-literacy-and-emotional-intelligence/ Video interview on Brittney-Nichole's channel: https://youtu.be/BMPPPw7zeVU  

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.  https://kevindelaplante.com/3-honest-updates Timestamps 00:00 - 03:12  Introduction 03:12 - 05:23  The move and web consolidation update 05:23 - 07:24  Failing at the one thing I set out to do 07:24 - 13:49  Experiments, consulting side-gigs, and coaching 13:40 -  18:12 Argument Ninja video community meetings—motivations and lessons learned 18:12 - 33:34 My history as a stutterer, and how it's influenced my work  33:34 - 42:44  On accepting my comfort zone 42:44 - 48:46  Retreating from my role as community builder (and trying to understand why) 48:46 - 57:53  My views on social media and how I choose to use it 57:53 - 01:06:22  A new opportunity that changes the equation 01:06:22 - 01:07:50  Wrapping up

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—even if we do lots of research and self-study. To help make the case I’m continuing my survey of different theories of the causes of the increase in social polarization that we’re currently experiencing. On this episode I look specifically at the work of two social scientists who have written extensively on this topic: Karen Stenner on the “authoritarian” personality type. Her 2005 book The Authoritarian Dynamic can be read as predicting the expansion of right-wing populism that contributed to the rise of Trump and Brexit. Stenner’s work has been influential on Jonathan Haidt’s analysis of polarization. Eric Kauffman on the effects of immigration on polarization in white majority countries. His latest book Whiteshift explores how demographic shifts are driving cultural conflict, and how this will likely play out in the longer run. But before I get to these topics, I give some Argument Ninja Dojo updates, do a recap of episode 034, and present a conceptual model for how we should think about the epistemological challenge of understanding complex social phenomena like polarization.

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—even if we do lots of research and self-study. To help make the case I'm continuing my survey of different theories of the causes of the increase in social polarization that we're currently experiencing. On this episode I look specifically at the work of two social scientists who have written extensively on this topic: Karen Stenner on the “authoritarian” personality type.  Her 2005 book The Authoritarian Dynamic can be read as predicting the expansion of right-wing populism that contributed to the rise of Trump and Brexit. Stenner's work has been influential on Jonathan Haidt's analysis of polarization. Eric Kauffman on the effects of immigration on polarization in white majority countries. His latest book Whiteshift explores how demographic shifts are driving cultural conflict, and how this will likely play out in the longer run. But before I get to these topics, I give some Argument Ninja Dojo updates, do a recap of episode 034, and present a conceptual model for how we should think about the epistemological challenge of understanding complex social phenomena like polarization. Timestamps 00:00 - 01:22  Introduction 01:22 - 06:31  Argument Ninja Dojo Announcements 06:31 - 11:45  Recap of Episode 034 11:45 - 14:41  Outline of What's to Come 14:41 -  23:40 Argument Matrices and the Problem of Calibrating Our Knowledge 23:40 - 25:48  The Epistemological Challenge of Understanding Complex Social Phenomena 25:48 - 42:44  Karen Stenner: The Authoritarian Dynamic 42:44 - 01:04:35  Eric Kauffman: Whiteshift and "Multivocal" Nationalism 01:04:35 - 01:07:56  Reasons to Think We Know Less Than We Think 01:07:56 - 01:08:44  Reminder: Argument Ninja Dojo Discount Coupon Links Links Show notes Click here to learn more about the Argument Ninja Dojo and how to sign up using a discount coupon link for as low as $3/month. Karen Stenner's homepage Eric Kauffman's homepage  

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".  Click to view the video interview on YouTube (full URL: https://youtu.be/rHQYHUksJFk) Timestamps: 0:56 - Topics discussed in the interview 2:15 - New courses in development on kevindelaplante.com 4:37 - How I'm pitching the new courses 5:12 - First course: Become an Argument Ninja 5:43 - Second course: How to Build a Good Argument (Argument and Reason) 6:11 - Third course: How to Know What You're Talking About (Argument and Knowledge) 7:00 - Fourth course: How to Be Understood (Argument and Communication) 7:32 - Fifth course: How to Win Over Your Audience (Argument and Persuasion) 8:52 - Introducing the interview, "street epistemology", and the hosts 11:57 - Critical thinking versus rational persuasion 13:19 - Two approaches to argumentation 16:34 - Why philosophers are suspicious of rhetoric 17:20 - How I was teaching critical thinking back when I was a university professor 17:33 - Origins of the "critical thinking movement" in higher education 21:12 - Jonathan Haidt's "Elephant and the Rider" model 23:54 - My "core belief network" model for helping strategize conversations 29:50 - The virtues of simplicity and clarity 32:05 - The culture of "smartness" in academia 34:49 - Viewing rational persuasion as a martial art 40:49 - Are there some people who should not be given training in these tools? 43:30 - Why critical thinking has a bad name in some circles 47:25 - Is the term "critical thinking" useful if everyone is willing to claim it? 51:21 - When the critical thinking label becomes politicized 51:53 - Why I avoid talking about my personal views on polarized topics 54:26 - Critical thinking, tribalism and polarization 01:01:35 - Keep your core small 01:01:35 - Is street epistemology part of a "mixed martial arts" approach to critical thinking? 01:08:14 - Can scientists do better at communicating with the public?   Links: Show notes for this episode Video interview on YouTube My promo video for the new Argument Ninja courses Street Epistemology Anthony Magnabosco's channel Reid Nicewonder's channel Daniel Earles' channel The Critical Thinking Movement in higher education (historical overview)  

Date Recorded: 21 March 2019 Date Released: 10 April 2019 Summary: Anthony, Reid and Dan sit down with Kevin DeLaplante from Argument Ninja to discuss the Critical Thinking and it's relationship with Street Epistemology. Watch video here: https://youtu.be/rHQYHUksJFk News, tips, strategies, stories, and more. A friendly discussion about Street Epistemology between people intimately familiar with the method. With Anthony, Reid, and Dan. Playlist of All Episodes of 'Epistemic': http://tinyurl.com/SE-SE-EPISTEMIC Kevin DeLaplante's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PhilosophyFreak Reid Nicewonder's Cordial Curiosity YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/cordialcurious ObjectivelyDan's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCabcNd5rdI-FlHW6ecXQvLQ Anthony Magnabosco's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/magnabosco210 -- Find links to all things SE at http://www.streetepistemology.com

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.  Show notes and links: https://kevindelaplante.com/032-when-tribalism-becomes-pathological Topics covered: the "two movies" phenomenon (Scott Adams) the distinction between "psychological" value pluralism and "philosophical" value pluralism what is affect bias? what is cultural cognition? your "value channel profile" what is the focusing illusion? what is availability bias? what is the mere-exposure effect? how do these cognitive biases interact to create an exaggerated and distorted perception of reality? a three-channel model of political values value channel profiles for the libertarian, the progressive liberal, and the conservative can I be a libertarian AND a progressive liberal AND a conservative? sources of "pathological tribalism" analogy: Black Mirror, "Men Against Fire" trading off critical thinking values and political values  

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.  Timestamps: Intro 00:00 What have I been up to? 01:24 Creating new videos 01:53 Keynote presenting at a conference in November 02:11 Consulting work 02:54 New tribalism videos 07:55 Inspiration for the videos 08:52 Findings of the "Hidden Tribes" report 09:48 The overall argument of the videos 12:43 Lessons learned from producing content in different formats for different platforms 20:54 Creating a new video course based on the tribalism and critical thinking videos 24:03 Audio versions of the Critical Thinker Academy courses available through Patreon 24:44 Links: Show notes for this episode on kevindelaplante.com Show notes and links to the "Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics" videos Direct links to the videos on YouTube: Part 1 - https://youtu.be/2NjOzvM41zM Part 2 - https://youtu.be/M4x4p3kmWQc Part 3 - https://youtu.be/PIAJxU5DO7s Kevin's Patreon page The Critical Thinker Academy  

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. Next episode will be an "Ask Me Anything" episode. You can submit questions at this URL: https://kevindelaplante.com/ama Listeners can access the video course at the Critical Thinker Academy or on Udemy. Follow the links below: At the Critical Thinker Academy (included in the site-wide subscription for as low as $3/month): https://criticalthinkeracademy.com/p/the-vocabulary-of-science On Udemy (this link will give you a HUGE discount on the retail price): https://kevindelaplante.com/vocabulary-of-science-udemy Supporting members on Patreon also get access to all of the content at the Critical Thinker Academy, including this new course: https://patreon.com/kevindelaplante The video version of this episode! https://youtu.be/NrwfY6YYRVk Show notes for this episode: https://kevindelaplante.com/30-behind-the-scenes-of-my-new-video-course/ In This Episode: (0:00 - 0:45) Introductory remarks - new course, and this podcast has both audio and video versions (0:45 - 1:10) Next episode is an "Ask Me Anything" episode (1:10 - 4:00) Introduction to my new Vocabulary of Science video course. Play the promo video for the course. (4:00 - 5:15) How to access the course. (5:15 - 8:40) The history of this course: science education; producing a "critical thinking about science" podcast; designing a curriculum that teaches genuine science literacy. (8:40 - 10:00) Pivoting toward the Argument Ninja concept. (10:00 -  11:34)  The decision to create new courses for Udemy and the Critical Thinker Academy. (11:34 - 12:10) Why this topic rather than some other topic?; teaching philosophy of science at Carleton University. (12:10 - 13:30) The perfect student assignment for this course; video critique exercise. (13:30 -  14:55) The new video format for producing courses and the podcast. (14:55 - 16:15) Wrapping up; reminder, AMA questions for next episode.

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. *** In This Episode: (0:00 - 4:57) Introduction (4:57 - 8:51) Critical Thinking Values (8:51 - 12:58) Why This Matters Even More to Young People (12:58 - 15:27) The Light Side and the Dark Side (15:27 - 16:25) The Martial Context of Critical Thinking (16:25 - 19:00) Social Media, Commercial Digital Culture and the Martial Context of Critical Thinking (19:00 - 22:42) Polarization and Critical Thinking: The One Ring to Rule Them All (22:42 - 24:45) Summing Up (24:45 - 27:47) Recommendation 1: Prioritize Role Modeling (27:47 - 32:19) Recommendation 2: Role-Model Intellectual Virtues (32:19 - 38:56) Recommendation 3: Depolarize Your Home (38:56 - 42:04) Recommendation 4: Be Critical of Social Media (42:04 - 48:00) Recommendation 5: Develop the Right Background Knowledge (48:00 - 52:37) Wrapping Up *** You can find show notes with links and supporting resources at: https://kevindelaplante.com/029-how-to-raise-a-critical-thinker Learn how you can support Kevin's work on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kevindelaplante Anyone who signs up on Patreon gets access to all of the video tutorial courses at the Critical Thinker Academy website: https://criticalthinkeracademy.com Follow Kevin's updates on Facebook: https://facebook.com/criticalthinkeracademy  

On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I offer a perspective on Jordan Peterson's criticism of left-wing ideology (what he calls "cultural Marxism") by sharing some of my intellectual history with feminism, Marxism and postmodernism. The broader theme of this episode is how to critically engage with ideas without being sucked into the tribal psychology of ideological conflict.  Show notes and links: https://kevindelaplante.com/026-jordan-peterson Support the podcast on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kevindelaplante In This Episode: (0:00 - 3:10) Introductory remarks (3:10 - 6:10) Introduction to Jordan Peterson (6:10 - 7:15) Email from Daniel: a question about JP and "cultural Marxism" (7:15 -  8:00) Feminism's branding problem (8:00 - 10:30) My philosophy mini-course in middle school (10:30 - 17:35) The value of separating the descriptive components from the normative components of feminism (17:35 - 19:00) Distinction: describing patterns of discrimination vs explaining those patterns (19:00 - 20:11) Why this way of defining feminism leaves lots of room for disagreement (20:11 - 20:45) My agnosticism about explanations for the root causes of discrimination (and social change in general) (20:45 -  23:48) Feminism and theories of social change: the problem of how to get from here to there (23:48 - 24:58) Help support the podcast! (25:00 -  31:00) Introduction to Marxism: what you can learn from Marx without committing to socialism or communism (31:00 - 42:35) A thought experiment to illustrate a Marxist approach to social change: social idealism vs social materialism in explanations of slavery (42:35 - 50:00) Jordan Peterson (via Stephen Hicks) on cultural Marxism and postmodernism (50:00 - 51:45) Conspiracy theories and peer review (51:45 - 53:52) "Traditional philosophical inquiry" vs postmodernism (53:52 - 1:03:15)  A legendary graduate seminar: "Essence and Construction". Philosophy vs Theory and Criticism as a clash of intellectual cultures (1:03:15 - 1:06:38) Breaking through: learning to communicate across an ideological divide (1:06:38 - 1:07:55) Empathy as a tool of understanding (1:07:55 - 1:10:11) Being socialized into a tribal view of intellectual identity and ideological conflict (1:10:11 - 1:12:19) Criticizing Jordan Peterson is easy when every side has their champion and everyone else is a charlatan (1:12:19 - 1:14:15) "Once you start playing this game, you will be a creature of the game from that point forward" (1:14:15 - 1:15:30) The WarGames option: "the only way to win is not to play". What it means to take the side of people  

On this episode of the Argument Ninja podcast I talk about TRIBALISM and the challenges that our tribal psychology poses for critical thinking. This episode includes the audio for two sketchbook videos I've done on this topic, "The Dangers of Tribalism" (11 minutes) and "Our Tribal Intelligence" (13 minutes), with additional commentary not found in those videos. I give time stamps below to help you navigate the episode if you've already watched those videos.  Show notes and links: https://kevindelaplante.com/025-why-tribal-literacy/ Support the podcast on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kevindelaplante (0:00 - 1:45) Introductory remarks.  (1:45 - 10:40) A undeserved gift, and my reflections on the nature of grace and original sin (my "secular Christian existentialism"). (10:40 - 15:25) Commentary setting up the discussion of tribalism and critical thinking. (15:25 -  26:52) The audio from my video on "The Dangers of Tribalism". (26:52 - 30:18) Commentary on "The Dangers of Tribalism". The multidisciplinary character of research on tribalism. Setting up the discussion of tribal epistemology. (30:18 - 42:40) The audio from my video on "Our Tribal Intelligence" (42:40 - 48:16) Commentary on "Our Tribal Intelligence". Cognitive biases that have roots in our tribal nature. The "knowledge illusion". Metacognition (thinking about thinking). Who is doing research on collective intelligence and the psychology of effective teamwork. (48:16 - 50:10) Wrapping up.  

I'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.  

For this episode I'm going to share an interview I did for Thinking Clearly, a radio show about critical thinking hosted by Bob Froelich and Julia Minton. On this live broadcast I answered questions about - my particular take on what critical thinking is and why it's important - why I decided to leave my tenured academic job and go solo - what video courses I offer at the Critical Thinker Academy - what is wrong with traditional approaches to critical thinking education - what's different about what I'm trying to do with the Argument Ninja program - and more We even answered a couple of questions from live callers!

This past month I was fortunate to be a guest of Xidian University in China for two weeks. On this episode of the podcast I share stories and reflections from my adventures as a first-time visitor to China, and I give an overview of some of the public talks and lectures I gave during my visit. The episode has four distinct parts. The first 20 minutes is stories from my trip and observations about Chinese culture. Then there are three discussions on philosophy, science and critical thinking topics: (00 min -20 min) stories from my trip and observations about Chinese culture (20 min - 30 min) on circular reasoning in the appeal to science and nature to justify social and political views (30 min - 40 min) on the elements of science literacy and why public science education doesn't teach it (40 min - 50 min) on the history of critical thinking in the west, and the challenges of talking about the value of critical thinking to audiences in modern China You can find a photo essay with lots of pics over at the blog at kevindelaplante.com: https://kevindelaplante.com/pics-from-china/ You can support the Argument Ninja podcast at http://argumentninja.com/support/

A bit of a departure for episode 018. I hope you enjoy this interview I did with Jason Vidaurri over at the StoryHinge podcast. He was kind enough to let me repurpose the audio of our interview for the Argument Ninja podcast. On this episode I answer questions about my story, my approach to philosophy and critical thinking, why critical thinking is valuable and important, how our media environment is making it increasingly difficult to think critically for ourselves, what I think is the most glaring omission in standard approaches to critical thinking education, and why the martial arts model of critical thinking that I'm developing at the Argument Ninja Academy is such a useful model. In This Episode: - A quick overview of my background (5:35) - When I realized I wasn't a career academic (7:10) - Why I wanted to do "philosophy journalism" (8:20) - Philosophy and critical thinking have never been a part of the public school curriculum (in North America) (9:10) - Why is this so? (10:30) - Why the...

Kevin deLaplante (https://kevindelaplante.com/) worked for twenty years as an academic philosopher, earning tenure and eventually becoming Chair of the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at Iowa State University. He left academia in 2015 to work full time as an independent educator, speaker and consultant specializing in critical thinking skills. Dr. deLaplante has an undergraduate degree in physics from Carleton University and a PhD in philosophy from Western University. Over the course of his academic career he taught a wide variety of courses in logic and scientific reasoning, critical thinking, the philosophy of science and ethics. Dr. deLaplante is the creator of the Critical Thinker Academy (criticalthinkeracademy.com), a tutorial site that hosts video courses on critical thinking, logic and argumentation, fallacies, probability, cognitive biases, and argumentative writing and communication. He is also the host of the Argument Ninja podcast (argumentninja.com), where he explores new approaches to critical thinking education.   StoryHinge http://storyhinge.com Where we amplify personal stories to consider more possibility and realize more potential and happiness in life.

In episode 017 I give an update on what's new at the Argument Ninja website (argumentninja.com), and I complete the overview of the white belt curriculum for the Argument Ninja Academy program. The third and fourth learning modules in the white belt curriculum are titled "Socratic Knowledge" and "Socratic Persuasion". I also develop a persuasion case study in this episode: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? In This Episode: - Preparing for an upcoming talk on cognitive biases and causal reasoning (2:47) - The Feynman Technique (5:10) - Why the Argument Ninja podcast is like a novel, and the Argument Ninja Academy is like the movie based on the novel (7:00) - I wrote 14 new articles for the Argument Ninja website (10:10) - A working draft of the Argument Ninja Academy curriculum (10:45) - All my recurring supporters on the Wall of Thanks (11:29) - My steering committee (12:10) - Relationship of the Argument Ninja program to themes often discussed in other podcasts -- martial arts...

With the sounds of Bryan's offspring gently playing in the background, Bryan's thoughts turn to how to prepare the progeny he has sired from his loins for a world of constant technological disruption. Obviously, Bryan has already prepared them for the apocalypse. They're both proficient in using compound bow and dressing their own kills. They can also strip a firearm and set a bone. And thanks to Bryan's beautiful wife they have (like Alexander the Great, the Comanche, Mongol warriors and slightly foppish aristocrats) they have been rigorously trained in equestrian. These are basic skills that every Callen must know. But what if the apocalypse doesn't happen? What if society more or less continues as is and Bryan's children rather than stalking deer through the shattered wreckage of our civilization and leading conquering hordes on horseback instead find themselves getting jobs. What jobs can they get and how should he prepare them for that? And that, ladies and gentlemen, turns out to be a question we should all be asking. We are in the middle of a #Jobocalypse and it's only going to get worse. While Donald Trump told a great story about jobs going overseas and the coming back, it's not a very good reflection of what's actually been happening. Instead, the shift of jobs overseas was made possible by improved technology. You can't have a call center answering calls half a world away if you don't have good telecommunications technology. You can't manufacture goods in China for sale in America unless shipping technology is so good, cheap and efficient as to make it economically viable. The Donald can bring some jobs back but the greater force at work here is that much of routine work is being and will continue to be automated out of existence. If your job rests on doing routine tasks, then it can be done by a robot or software. Automated cars and trucks, accounting software, McDonalds self-service kiosks and computer programs that trade stocks and write increasingly complex legal contracts are all just some of the ways in which life-long careers can be either disrupted out of existence or change so massively as to be unrecognizable. The defining feature of the future is the need to constantly adapt and that is not something that the world has been prepared for. To reform an educational system, you first need to reform the understanding of the voters. That's the core challenge. Using the internet to empower people to take charge of their own educations. And that is what Mixed Mental Arts and The Straight-A Conspiracy are all about. As WhatUpO recently wrote on the Mixed Mental Arts subreddit: "I found MMA through the JRE and was hooked from the first episode I listened to (the Jordan Peterson episode I believe). The discussions had on the podcast about culture and learning are captivating not only because they are full of interesting info but because of how genuinely the ideas are presented. Today's entertainment/news realms only seem to deal in absolutes. MMA's "you don't have to believe us - look for yourselves" approach is a breath of fresh air to say the least. I've listened to all of the past podcasts and I'm just now discovering these extra resources that have been set up (the blog, this sub and the website) and I've begun diving into the books in the reading list so this won't be the last you hear from me!" Bryan Callen and Hunter Maats do not have all the answers. We do, however, have relentless faith in the wisdom of crowds. There's nothing that a random group of humans can't figure out if they all bring their minds to bear on the problem. And, now, it seems that is happening. People like Martin Totland in Norway and Cate Fogarty in LA are contributing blogposts. Sandy Bagga in Canada has set up a subreddit and Chris Reid in New Zealand has populated it with threads. Matt Maurer and Matt Madonna have built a way better website than the TERRIBLE one Hunter made. And all of this has been done by people (who like Bryan and Hunter) are not in it for the money. And Nicole Page Lee has connected Hunter with the similarly-minded Argument Ninja and helped design t-shirts and pressure Hunter to make them. Individually, none of us can solve the world's problems. Together, we can draw together people from all over the world who can do a better and better job of figuring it out. The key to doing that is the same as the key to thriving and surviving in the wake of the #Jobocalypse. Every day, we wake up and we put the white belt back on. We approach the world with a Beginner's Mind and make whatever progress we can make and learn whatever we can trusting that if we keep evolving then it will all add up to measurable results and lives changed for the better. We've made some crude knowledge bombs with these podcast episodes and blogposts. Now, it's time to make better knowledge bombs that can empower the Mixed Mental Arts community to go out there and be #IntellectualTerrorists. We want to make videos so short, so tight, so powerful and so thought-provoking that you can drop them on your Facebook feed, twitter feed or all around the internet and blow people's minds. We want to make a simple set of videos called #CultureMatters. To do that, we need to raise money on Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/mixedmentalarts.) We work for free but equipment costs money and so do quality editors. For $10,000, we can produce those ten #CultureMatters videos that can set the internet on fire. We can make millions of people take the red pill. This is now the work of Mixed Mental Arts to keep refining better and better tools to diffuse innovations. You can contribute money as Bryan has by paying for renting the studio and Hunter has by paying for the first version of the blog. You can contribute skills like Matt Maurer and Matt Madonna. You can make connections like Nicole Lee Page. You can write blogposts like Martin Totland. You can challenge Hunter to look at blindspots you think he's avoiding like @mazz77a and Ro'ee Orland. Or you can set up your own dojo like Leland Chandler IV. Yes, you can set up your own dojo. In fact, we hope you do. Mixed Mental Arts doesn't belong to us. It's an approach to thinking just like Mixed Martial Arts is an approach to fighting. The goal is to have thinking styles compete and test each other. Bryan Callen and Hunter Maats want competition. We want to be forced to raise our game. Do it. Show us how it's done. Beat us at our own game. Mixed Mental Arts will evolve in the exact same way as Mixed Martial Arts. The best is yet to come. We're just getting started. That's what the Buddhist monks knew that we're only just rediscovering. It's all about putting the white belt back on every single day.

The Argument Ninja training program that I'm developing is inspired by martial arts training principles. The curriculum is spread over nine belt ranks (white belt, yellow belt, orange belt, etc. ) In this episode I give an overview of the learning modules that make up the white belt curriculum, and dive deep into the second module, an introduction to Argument Analysis. In This Episode: Overview of the White Belt Modules (2:20) Module 1: What is an Argument Ninja? (4:20) The Goals of Critical Thinking (4:56) We Have a Problem (5:41) Solution: The Argument Ninja Academy (6:47) Module 2: Argument Analysis (I) (8:35) Worry: No One Talks Like This (9:00) It's About Learning the Principles (10:22) Wax-on, Wax-off (11:38) Definition of an Argument (14:35) Demanding Clarity (20:30) Vagueness and Ambiguity (22:00) Example: Is Trump a Conservative? (23:55) Argument Analysis Skills (26:30) Comment: Argumentation vs Persuasion (28:00) Example: "Make America Great Again" (29:13) Wrapping Up (31:11)

In this episode I explore learning and teaching techniques used in the martial arts, from the perspective of the beginning student and from the perspective of the experienced instructor. I extract a number of important training principles from this exercise that I hope to incorporate in the Argument Ninja training program. In This Episode: Review: What is "Rational Persuasion"? (2:30) Reminder: Our Children Are Watching (7:20) The White Belt Experience (10:00) Training for Skill Development: Analysis, Synthesis, Repetition, and Internalization (13:00) Training for Combat: Objectives, Strategy and Tactics (17:30) Training Through Time: Cumulative, Incremental Progress (25:15) Training with Inspiration: "Beginner's Mind" (30:30) Summing Up (37:45) The Instructional Design Challenge (39:00) How Classroom Teachers Solve It (42:10) The Value of a Belt Level System (44:00) How You Can Support the Podcast and the Argument Ninja Program (46:25) Book Me For a Speaking Gig (48:30)

In this episode I talk about how the program I'm developing for the Argument Ninja Academy will differ from the Critical Thinker Academy, and outline my instructional design goals for the new program. I also describe the kinds of personality types, or "avatars", that are most strongly attracted to this kind of material. I've named these avatars the Scientist, the Philosopher, the Persuader, the Analyst, and the Butterfly. In This Episode: - The difference between what I'm currently offering at the Critical Thinker Academy and what I plan to offer at the Argument Ninja Academy - Brainstorming the design of an online teaching and learning experience - My objectives for the Argument Ninja program: -- solving the central problem that plagues critical thinking education today -- providing a resource for critical thinking educators support for professional training as well as independent consumer training -- adaptive learning -- gamification and progression features modeled on martial arts...

This is a big episode. I give a big-picture overview of where I'm going with the Argument Ninja podcast, brainstorm a new Argument Ninja training program, and give readers an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this project. In This Episode: - How my views on critical thinking have changed sinced I produced the Critical Thinker podcast in 2010, and where the Argument Matrix podcast is going. - Why I'm jealous of martial arts studios, and I brainstorm what a walk-in critical thinking studio might look like. - I describe an online critical thinking studio, a structured Argument Ninja training program. - I give a detailed breakdown of how my online business is doing, where I'm making my money, and how much time I have left before the cash runs out - I describe how you can help make the Argument Ninja training program a reality. - I make you an offer that you won't want to miss.