39. Dr Bo Bennett on Sharpening Critical Thinking, Logical Fallacies & Persuasive Dialogue

Humanism Now

“We need to care more about believing what is true than being right and being proved right.” - Bo Bennet

With outrage-bait, memes and “gotcha” clips swarming every feed, being able to think about our thinking is no longer optional. Social psychologist, entrepreneur and Positive Humanism author Dr Bo Bennett joins host James Hodgson to show why critical thinking is a life skill for everyone, not a luxury for academics. Drawing on decades spent dissecting logical fallacies (plus a generous dose of humour), Bo maps out how we can swap combativeness for curiosity—and outrage for evidence—in our daily conversations.
In this episode

• System 1 vs System 2: knowing when to hit the cognitive brakes
• 25 “greatest-hits” fallacies—from appeal to authority to the straw man
• Aristotle’s trio of logic, emotion & character (and why emotion is only fallacious when it replaces reason)
• The Socratic method for lowering defences and dodging the back-fire effect
• “You need to care more about believing what is true than being right and being proved right.” —Bo
• Expertise-transfer traps: why even humanists can slip up on politics or science
• Handling contrarian takes on settled research: focus on the scientific process
• A practical habit: run emotional posts through AI for a fast, source-linked fact-check before you hit share

Follow Dr Bo Bennett

• Website & books: bobennett.com
• Logical fallacy database: https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsbennett/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bobennett7750

Resources

• Logically Fallacious — Dr Bo Bennett
• Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman

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Chapters

1. Intro to Dr Bo Bennet (00:00:00)

2. What is Critical Thinking? (00:01:20)

3. Red Flags and Logical Fallacies (00:05:33)

4. Balancing Reason with Emotional Appeal (00:09:20)

5. Building Rapport & Credibility (00:13:30)

6. How to Approach Difficult Conversations (00:15:28)

7. Cultivating a Habit of Thinking Critically (00:17:55)

8. Humanist Rational Blind Spots (00:21:58)

9. Performance as a Barrier to Truth in Debate (00:23:57)

10. Scientific Process vs Cherry-Picking (00:28:10)

11. Find Out More About Bo's Work (00:34:40)

12. Changing Minds on Fact-Checking with AI (00:35:04)