Reply #36: That's a damn good article.

[greyl]

I agree that as a "General Theory" the worldview dimension is extremely important in ones day to day attitude toward the barrage of information coming at us.
Under certain circumstances however, "Special Theories" of critical thinking ie logic, can be more appropriate or reliable. For example, if we're evaluating the statement of someone we know nothing about on a message board, the General Theory begins to lose relevance and we're forced to focus on the statement itself. Of course we'd likely take note of any subtle evidence that may be available in a post, but that's treading on even more fuzzy territory, and is best reserved till subtle evidence accumulates.

More importantly I think, when trying to convince someone else that an argument is valid or not, I don't think a strict following of the rules of logic can lead the discussion away from truth. I realize that the worldview dimension is more closely related with attacking the body of arguments someone has presented than with attacking the person(ad hominem) but still, the next claim after 30 false ones may be truthful. ;)