Overview

Dancing with Absurdity explores the limitations of knowledge and argues that neither reasoning nor direct observation can be trusted. Not only are they unreliable sources, they do not even justify assigning probabilities to claims about what we can know. This position, called radical skepticism, has intrigued philosophers since before the birth of Christ, yet nobody has been able to refute it. Fred Leavitt uses two unique methods of presentation. First, he supports abstract arguments with summaries of real-life examples from many and varied fields, which make the arguments much more convincing and compelling. He cites more than 200 studies from psychology, mathematics, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, evolutionary theory, history, the corporate world, politics, the military, and current news reporting. Second, Leavitt's writing is user-friendly, even when dealing with complex issues. Whether answering the telephone, turning on the TV, talking with friends, or munching on an apple, we expect things to happen predictably. These expectations, paired with radical skepticism, exemplify cognitive dissonance at the highest level. Although certain of nothing, other than that we can be certain of nothing, it's certain that readers will come to be intrigued by the problem.

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9781453914908

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Reviews

-Fred Leavitt's special brilliance is convincing us that our 'betters' are not that smart after all. Leavitt bulldozes various philosophical constructs, then merrily guides us through the wreckage - without ever condescending to the reader. He gradually convinces us that we are as clever as he is, and that is quite clever indeed.- (&ltI>Glynn Washington Host/Executive Producer of the NPR show&lt/I> Snap Judgment)

Author Information

Fred Leavitt received a BA from Eastern New Mexico University, a PhD from the University of Michigan, and a post-doctoral fellowship to study mammalian sexual behavior at UC-Berkeley. He has been a visiting professor at several universities in the United States and around the world, including Canada, Kenya, New Zealand, England, Turkey, Singapore, and Holland. Dr. Leavitt has lectured to medical doctors, football coaches, and athletic directors and was an invited speaker to the California Select Committee on Licensed and Designated Sports. He is the author of several books, including Drugs and Behavior, The REAL Drug Abusers, Evaluating Scientific Research, Improving Medical Outcomes (with daughter Jessica), An Even Greater Scandal, and The Billionaire's Game.

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