How Did PF Help You Develop Critical Thinking Skills?

[micromass]

How did PF change you??

This is obviously a question for the more addicted members of this forum. How did PF help you or change things about you??

As for me, I find myself more sensitive to unscientific arguments. I like to see more evidence for facts which might not be obvious. And I'm more argumentative to potential crackpottery. I used to be able to listen to people talk about those things, but now I start getting headaches (from an imaginary Evo screaming to BAN HIM).

 

[Evo]

(from an imaginary Evo screaming to BAN HIM).

You know you love it!

 

[rktpro]

This is obviously a question for the more addicted members of this forum. How did PF help you or change things about you??

As for me, I find myself more sensitive to unscientific arguments. I like to see more evidence for facts which might not be obvious. And I'm more argumentative to potential crackpottery. I used to be able to listen to people talk about those things, but now I start getting headaches (from an imaginary Evo screaming to BAN HIM).

I am a new member, but still-addicted.
Not only PF but other science forums on the web have transformed the way I study. Earlier, I used to raise questions in subjects, but I never thought how appropriate they were. If you join the community, you certainly get to know what is the art of raising questions, how relevant the questions are, and how should one approach to answer them.
I get to know new things daily on the scientific forums. Yes, it adds to the quality of argumentation, makes you capable of presenting you ideas in a better way.

And you have comics, hilarious threads and ladies around.

 

[Evo]

I find that I have lost the ability to watch woowoo on tv and in movies. Reality tv woowoo is the worst. Because I have to research things that are posted and research things I believe to be true to make sure the members are getting the best answers, the amount of crackpotterry I am exposed to on the internet really upsets me. I'm glad that PF has no tolerance for nonsense and misinformation. It's a breath of fresh air.

 

[micromass]

I find that I have lost the ability to watch woowoo on tv and in movies. Reality tv woowoo is the worst. Because I kave to research things that are posted and research things I believe to be true to make sure the members are getting the best answers, the amount of crackpotterry I am exposed to on the internet really upsets me. I'm glad that PF has no tolerance for nonsense and misinformation. It's a breath of fresh air.

Greg should set up his own television channel with only proper science and good shows. We could have "Cooking with turbo", "Micromass' adventures in mathmagic land" and "Vanadiums academic guidance show"...

 

[Drakkith]

My experiences are similar to Micromass. It has...taught me to look at the world in a whole new light. And like Rktpro said, it has taught me HOW to ask a question and how to answer them. And perhaps something that most people don't realize, it has taught me the limitations of current knowledge and not to simply accept everything that turns up in the news that appears amazing and sensational.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I was already scientifically-minded and highly critical of BS before I came to PF. This is the first forum on which I've used my real name. It has taught me to keep my mouth shut unless I know exactly what I'm talking about and can say it respectfully and concisely.

 

[Pengwuino]

I have learned nothing from PF. The real question is: What has PF learned from Pengwuino?

 

[micromass]

What has PF learned from Pengwuino?

Never trust a penguin.

 

[rootX]

People at PF have more interests in common than people around me. Hot sauces, hot food, gummy bears, songs, discovery/nat geo are just few to name.

 

[fluidistic]

Gained 10 kilograms thanks to PF. Yeah I started to go to gym after a thread I read in the academic guidance part. (No joke)

 

[Evo]

People at PF have more interests in common than people around me. Hot sauces, hot food, gummy bears, songs, discovery/nat geo are just few to name.

Cute animals.

 

[rootX]

Cute animals.

Yes! :!)

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

PF has aged me.

 

[rktpro]

I have learned nothing from PF. The real question is: What has PF learned from Pengwuino?

Penguins SURF the net.

 

[chiro]

This is obviously a question for the more addicted members of this forum. How did PF help you or change things about you??

I think the best properties of this forum is that:

a) It has quite a diverse set of members which keeps things interesting
b) Most of the members here are some of the most helpful and selfless people who are willing to take a few minutes (or more) out of their time to help other people
c) It is a forum where ideas are presented and for the most part, serious debate is engaged in where we get, again for the most part, thoughtful answers and a great set of ideas that make other reading members think.

To me, one of the important properties of an advanced civilization is one where people engage in debate in a way that allows anyone to make a statement in a way that points of all kinds are considered and scrutinized by everyone else in a fair way.

I don't think we are there yet, but at least physics forums provides an environment where this tolerated and encouraged, and that property alone makes everyone here at PF part of something great.

 

[drizzle]

At first, it gave me an ulcer! Don't get me wrong, I was active in P&WA.

I think PF made me become... a milder person.

 

[nickadams]

PF made me start actually caring about learning rather than just trying to get an "A".

 

[rollcast]

It made me realize how dummed down a lot of our physics and maths is in school and how much I still have to learn.

It has shown me to evaluate everything and not take it at face value.

 

[ApplePion]

I learned that people obsessed with exterminating "crackpots" (both actual crackpots and imagined crackpots) are almost always crackpots themselves.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I learned that people obsessed with exterminating "crackpots" (both actual crackpots and imagined crackpots) are almost always crackpots themselves.

 

[Darth Frodo]

PF has taught me to work my a*s off in college because grad school is so competitive not to mention academia...

 

[jackmell]

. How did PF help you or change things about you??

Things I encountered in PF led me to publish a paper and work on another I hope to finish one day. Nothing great, just something I wanted to do.

I doubt seriously I would have been led to do this work without PF.

 

[phinds]

After a lifetime as an electrical engineer, then computer programmer, then techincal project maanger, I decided to learn a little more about cosmology and quantum mechanics, and I wouldn't have made it without this forum. There are a lot of good books out there for beginners such as me, and I have a couple dozen of them, but there are always things that the books don't quite manage to get across to me and reading stuff here, and asking quesions, has made it possible for me to get through the books.

SO ... I'm really grateful to PF and particularly to the mods who spend a lot of their personal time getting rid of cranks and keeping the discussions more or less on track.

Also I used to be frustrated by all those nifty science TV shows because I was sometimes PRETTY sure, but not 100% sure, that they were often spouting nonsense. My response now is that I think they're a hoot and I continue to watch them. I trash them unmercifully on this forum, because they deserve it, but now that I KNOW when they are wrong (and they are not ALWAYS wrong by any stretch) I just laugh at the stupid parts and enjoy the pretty pictures. Call me shallow

And last, but not least, although it might be hard to believe on seeing some of my snippy posts to folks that I have no patience for, I really AM practising restraint and trying to "suffer fools gladly", although it remains quite a challenge for me. That's always been one of my failings and I'm happy that PF gives me an opportunity to work on it.

I REALLY enjoy the crank-free "hard-love" atmosphere here and I admire the patience and determination to be helpful by so many members who persist in the face of apparently willful misunderstandings by newbies. I try, not always successfully, to emulate their patience and that is helpful to me. My son tells me I am mellowing in my old age and at least some of that is due to PF.

Thanks again to the mods.

Paul

 

[cobalt124]

PF made me start actually caring about learning rather than just trying to get an "A".

It made me regret I didn't care enough about learning rather than just failing (for the most part) to get "A"'s.
PF taught me critical thinking, my limitiations and ways to learn.
Thanks to PF, I can now spot crackpots in all walks of life and I don't have to bother with them.
PF is one of the few sites on the internet I trust.
I wish I had more time to post, I barely have time to read PF these days.
Still the best site on the web.