How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Asking the Right Questions [Paperback]

I consider this book a very worthwhile introduction to critical thinking for those new to the topic and a useful refresher for the rest of us. Considering the topic, the book is quite easy to read; without sacrificing quality. It is an interesting combination of instruction in the principles of critical thinking and what the author calls the "Big Five Questions". I enjoyed this approach and I think most others will as well.

The author begins by describing arguments and how to understand them. He follows that up with chapters on biases, context, and basic ideas of logic and the various types of evidence and methods of reasoning. He has an excellent chapter on the most common fallacies. The final section of the book asks the big five questions and contrasts a naturalistic answer with a supernatural answer. Make no mistake, the author is not simply splitting the difference. He comes down very heavily on the side of methodological naturalism. In providing the supernatural answers he shows how they come up short.

This book has a very good look inside content and I recommend you check that out. You will thereby get a good idea what you are getting before you buy. This book was well done and I recommend it.

I found Pain in the Ass to be an interesting read: not as good as I had hoped but not a complete waste of time either. The book is divided into three parts--Pt I is a very excellent review and explanation (depending on the reader's experience and knowledge of critical thinking literature) of critical thinking, debate, persuasive discourse, and argumentation skills and principles. Fairly complete and well done. Not to deep on theory and very readable. This portion alone makes the book worth the read if this is a subject in which you are seeking more information. Pt II is a discussion of the Socratic methodology and history of the Skeptics principles. I found this section disjointed and hard to read in spite of considerable training in the subject. Its style is such that the author appears to be trying to put forth an academic import to the work and missed badly. This section is overpacked with minutae which does not flow and does not improve any of the points. This is a '1-star' section. Pt III is the application section in which the author attempts to use the framework built in parts 1 (successfully) and 2 (less so) to answer the "5 Big Questions". I was not a fan of framing the entire premise of critical thinking with the 5 Big Questions (nor are they what I consider the "Big 5"); however, the section is useful in its discussion and seems to be without glaring problems. Chapters 10 & 11 have several very minor inconsistencies in their discussions of genographics, evolution and climatology but this is not a treatise on those subjects and they do not detract from the premise. My only problem with Pt III is not liking the '5 Question' framework makes this section less interesting. I read some chapters fully, carefully and critically and found others that were barely worth a light skim.

Overall, I am glad I read the book but I would only recommend it to friends with caveats and explanations.

Dr. Dicarlo's book is very fun to read and informative. It teaches the reader how to construct and map arguments, spot logical fallacies, be aware of your own cognitive biases, and ask the right questions. While doing this, it maintains a fun tone. I wish we would have used this book in my critical thinking class.