Posted: Oct 27, 2010 2:45 am
How 'bout a chapter on cognitive biases (along the lines of Kahneman/Tversky's experiments)? Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is a classic summary of research on how messages that affect/exploit cognitive biases shut down critical thinking. Realizing that there are significant blind spots in human thinking seems like a good place to start.
Edit: ditto Oldskeptic - maybe a short primer on evolutionary psychology: the survival value of assumptions, etc.
Also, invite some psychology peeps in on the discussion - Lazar, as I recall from chats in RDN, was doing his PhD in psych. And, I'm sure, there are plenty of others who would be interested in contributing to this project.
Edit: ditto Oldskeptic - maybe a short primer on evolutionary psychology: the survival value of assumptions, etc.
Also, invite some psychology peeps in on the discussion - Lazar, as I recall from chats in RDN, was doing his PhD in psych. And, I'm sure, there are plenty of others who would be interested in contributing to this project.