Well said. As I grow older the more I see critical thinking as the mental equivalent of physical skills like running: most folks know how to do it - more or less - but they are too lazy and/or out of practice to do it well. We need to go beyond teaching people how to carefully reason - we need to encourage exercising that skill!
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Well said. As I grow older the more I see critical thinking as the mental equivalent of physical skills like running: most folks know how to do it - more or less - but they are too lazy and/or out of practice to do it well. We need to go beyond teaching people how to carefully reason - we need to encourage exercising that skill!
Years ago, people kept themselves physically fit because physical skills were important in agricultural & industrial economies - in today's information economy, people should keep themselves mentally fit (ie. well-practiced in the techniques of critical thinking/evidence-based reasoning). Alas we don't and we suffer for it.
Well said. As I grow older the more I see critical thinking as the mental equivalent of physical skills like running: most folks know how to do it - more or less - but they are too lazy and/or out of practice to do it well. We need to go beyond teaching people how to carefully reason - we need to encourage exercising that skill!
Years ago, people kept themselves physically fit because physical skills were important in agricultural & industrial economies - in today's information economy, people should keep themselves mentally fit (ie. well-practiced in the techniques of critical thinking/evidence-based reasoning). Alas we don't and we suffer for it.