Essays
Essays and Unpublished Articles
John D. Nagy
All essays and articles posted here are either published elsewhere or unpublished except on the web. All are protected by domestic and international copyright.
1) Baloney Detection Kit and the Tools of Science
This article serves as an introduction to a professional-level treatment of scientific thought. Using Carl Sagan's tools for skeptical and critical thinking--what he called the "baloney detection kit"--as a guide, this essay gives a taste of how professional scientists think. It debunks the myth of the "scientific method," and argues that what is typically taught as such--namely the standard hypothetico-deductive method--is really only one, somewhat simple-minded, approach to science.
