Dancing with Absurdity: Your Most Cherished Beliefs (and All Your Others) Are Probably Wrong

221 Pages·2015·1.45 MB·English

by  Fred Leavitt

Leavitt_cpi_cb_AUS dd.qxd 4/17/2015 5:45 AM Page 1
A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
Dancing with Absurdityexplores the limitations of knowledge and argues that neither L
e
reasoning nor direct observation can be trusted. Not only are they unreliable sources,
a
they do not even justify assigning probabilities to claims about what we can know. This v
i
t
position, called radical skepticism, has intrigued philosophers since before the birth of t
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 stud-
ies from psychology, mathematics, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, evolutionary the-
ory, history, the corporate world, politics, the military, and current news reporting. Second, D
Leavitt’s writing is user-friendly, even when dealing with complex issues.
a
Whether answering the telephone, turning on the TV, talking with friends, or
n
munching on an apple, we expect things to happen predictably. These expectations, paired
c
with radical skepticism, exemplify cognitive dissonance at the highest level. Although i
n
certain of nothing, other than that we can be certain of nothing, it’s certain that read-
ers will come to be intrigued by the problem. g

w
i
t
h

A
FRED LEAVITTreceived a B.A. from Eastern New Mexico Uni- b
versity, a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and a post- s
u
doctoral fellowship to study mammalian sexual behavior at UC-
r
Berkeley. He has been a visiting professor at several universities
d
in the United States and around the world, including Canada,
i
Kenya, New Zealand, England, Turkey, Singapore, and Holland. t
y
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 Sci-
entific Research, Improving Medical Outcomes(with daughter Jessica), An Even Greater Scan-
dal, and The Billionaire’s Game.
v
(cid:129)

2
1
9 Dancing with Absurdity
Your Most Cherished Beliefs
P
E
T
E
R (and All Your Others) Are Probably Wrong
L
A M E R I C A N A
N
G
U N I V E R S I T Y
FRED LEAVITT
www.peterlang.com S T U D I E S
Leavitt_cpi_cb_AUS dd.qxd 4/17/2015 5:45 AM Page 1
A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
Dancing with Absurdityexplores the limitations of knowledge and argues that neither L
e
reasoning nor direct observation can be trusted. Not only are they unreliable sources,
a
they do not even justify assigning probabilities to claims about what we can know. This v
i
t
position, called radical skepticism, has intrigued philosophers since before the birth of t
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 stud-
ies from psychology, mathematics, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, evolutionary the-
ory, history, the corporate world, politics, the military, and current news reporting. Second, D
Leavitt’s writing is user-friendly, even when dealing with complex issues.
a
Whether answering the telephone, turning on the TV, talking with friends, or
n
munching on an apple, we expect things to happen predictably. These expectations, paired
c
with radical skepticism, exemplify cognitive dissonance at the highest level. Although i
n
certain of nothing, other than that we can be certain of nothing, it’s certain that read-
ers will come to be intrigued by the problem. g

w
i
t
h

A
FRED LEAVITTreceived a B.A. from Eastern New Mexico Uni- b
versity, a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and a post- s
u
doctoral fellowship to study mammalian sexual behavior at UC-
r
Berkeley. He has been a visiting professor at several universities
d
in the United States and around the world, including Canada,
i
Kenya, New Zealand, England, Turkey, Singapore, and Holland. t
y
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 Sci-
entific Research, Improving Medical Outcomes(with daughter Jessica), An Even Greater Scan-
dal, and The Billionaire’s Game.
v
(cid:129)

2
1
9 Dancing with Absurdity
Your Most Cherished Beliefs
P
E
T
E
R (and All Your Others) Are Probably Wrong
L
A M E R I C A N A
N
G
U N I V E R S I T Y
FRED LEAVITT
www.peterlang.com S T U D I E S
Dancing with Absurdity
Advance praise for

“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.”
Glynn Washington
Host/Executive Producer of the NPR show Snap Judgment

Dancing with Absurdity
SERIES V
PHILOSOPHY

VOL. 219

This book is a volume in a Peter Lang monograph series.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
FRED LEAVITT

Dancing with Absurdity

Your Most Cherished Beliefs
(and All Your Others) Are Probably Wrong

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leavitt, Fred.
Dancing with absurdity: your most cherished beliefs (and all your others)
are probably wrong / Fred Leavitt.
pages cm. — (American University studies. V, Philosophy; Vol. 219)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Belief and doubt. 2. Philosophy—Miscellanea. 3. Life. I. Title.
BD215.L36 121’.6—dc23 2014043808
ISBN 978-1-4331-2925-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1490-8 (e-book)
ISSN 0739-6392

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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To Di, Jess, Mel, Ian, Jeff, Tia, and Eli
With love,
Fred