Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions by Robert Todd Carroll, Robert T. Carroll ISBN: 0-471-27242-6 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 15 August, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.79 (14 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: What is this about?
Comment: This review of the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) is astoundingly off base and has little to do with the actually method. First of all it is not a "test" although for ease of conversation is often referred to this way. This fundamental error is somewhat understandable but starts the critique off on a suspect foot. The Rorschach is a method for better understanding numerous personality constructs (among other things) but the author is claiming it is measuring things that it is simply not intended to sample. The Rorschach is not left up to the examiner's interpretation, it is not a measure of creative expression, is not supposed to predict "committed actions", and outside of movement responses (M, m, and FM) it is not a projective test. People who understand the method know this.
The blots do not need to be 100% "formless" or ambiguous! Where does the author get this? Why the interest in form? What about the other percepts? Now we really get outlandish because the author calls the blots "superfluous" based on his own assumption that the "therapist" is doing the interpretation. This is not the case but I suppose he meant to single out people who give the test but don't know how to administer it. It gets worse because it appears that the author is over focused on content ("I see a bumble bee", or "That's an arrogant know-it-all looking back at me"). The RIM is not all about the content! Can the author guess what the majority of the RIM is actually about? Even worse is that a single variable is NEVER used to make grand over generalizations. The "Dawes 148" reference (It would be nice to see the year here) is a good example of this repeated problem. The power of the RIM is the combination of clusters and signs. Structural summary man, structural summary!
The whole idea of "deceiving others" by making up responses demonstrates further lack of understanding on the author's part. Don't you have to know what the RIM is doing so you can deceive or alter a response in a desired way? The fact that the author thinks the test is all about content presents further problems with his theory that you can "deceive" the "test". If the author does not know the fundamentals about the RIM how is a layperson supposed to deceive it? Remember, it is not a traditional test. You cannot cheat. This brings me to my last point, not that we have time to exhaust the misconceptions printed in the author's work.
The idea that a person can give "good or bad responses" is overwhelming and convincing evidence that the author has no business writing about the RIM. The RIM does not, nor does the examiner label these responses good or bad. We'll leave the labeling up to the author. Besides, the subject's responses are not compared to the examiner's interpretations. Again, just wrong. It is an open-ended method with no good, bad, right, or wrong responses. This is clearly told to people before administration and has no bearing on scoring. Is this guy even talking about the Rorschach? Critiques like this seem to be attempts to fill space. They certainly have little to do with the actual Rorschach. I don't mind constructive criticism but I would expect the criticism to be informed and for the sake of education - in the ball park!
This work is a disaster.
Rating: 4
Summary: very nearly a great book
Comment: This is one of those books where you pick it up to look something up, then find yourself flipping through it to check out other stuff and, before you know it, an hour or two has gone by. There is a lot of good stuff in here, so much so that I hate to criticize it for its few shortcomings, but here goes.
ALCHEMY-- The section could be a lot longer and more in-depth.
ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS-- He is apparently unaware of Thor Heyerdahl and his crew making an Easter Island statue.
ANOMALOUS LUMINOUS PHENOMENA-- He doesn't debunk!
CASTANEDA-- He is apparently unaware of Richard DeMille's numerous books and articles debunking Castaneda.
GURDJIEFF-- He too readily dismisses him as a crank and con-man, but then again, I'm biased.
LOCH NESS MONSTER-- Could have been more in-depth. Dealing with the Dinsdale film, for example.
JINNI and JOGINI-- I'm not sure what these entries are doing here.
PYRAMIDIOCY-- Instead of being objective, he goes off on a rant here. Odd.
SPEED READING-- Doesn't adequately deal with all the aspects of this subject (sub-vocalization, for example), and is apparently unaware of John Stuart Mill being able to read as fast as he could turn the pages.
SUBLIMINAL-- Doesn't adequately deal with the neurological aspects of this phenomenon.
Despite these problems, I would recommend this book highly, and it's a welcome addition to my library. 4 1/2 stars.
Rating: 1
Summary: Treat with the utmost skepticism!
Comment: If you wanted to teach someone to think for themself, would you:
A) Teach them to think concisely and rationally, how to carry out meaningful investigations, and how to keep an open mind till they had sufficient evidence to make their OWN evaluation, pro or con, on a given subject?
B) Or would you tell them what to think, implying that they were some kind of gullible fool if they disagreed with YOUR evaluations?
If you said "A", well done, there's hope for you yet.
If you said "B", you'll probably love this book ...
 |
Title: Bad Medicine : Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O by Christopher Wanjek ISBN: 047143499X Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 04 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: Becoming a Critical Thinker - A Guide for the New Millennium by Carroll. Robert Todd, Robert T. Carroll, Kas Salazar ISBN: 0536600600 Publisher: Pearson Custom Publishing Pub. Date: 01 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $38.65 |
 |
Title: Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi, Isaac Asimov ISBN: 0879751983 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: October, 1988 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
 |
Title: Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner ISBN: 0486203948 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1957 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
 |
Title: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer ISBN: 0805070893 Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
