Penn and Teller show and teens

[MaxMorgan]

Critical Thinking Is As Critical Thinking Does

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with the notion that pointing out a failure to think critically about the ban on cigarette smoking is inappropriate here.

If this is to be a topic about teaching children to think critically, then it would be helpful if the adults discussing it would lead by example, teaching children to not only question the information they receive, but also to question their own thinking processes and their own motivations.

As a scientist, research analyst, and educator, I can tell you that critical thinking isn't something that happens by talking about how you think you're promoting it by asking them to question only where their information comes from.

You also have to teach them to question their own ASSUMPTIONS and thinking processes. That's what we're doing here.

Max

 

[MaxMorgan]

One more thing...

When I read someone claiming to be teaching their child to think critically by getting them to question the information they're presented with and then observe them giving the child props for ONLY questioning those things that they disagree with, I'm troubled.

What we see in this first post to this thread is that the child had a personal bias against the information because her personal experience with cigarette smoke is that it causes her to have asthma attacks. I can relate, since I have the same problem.

However, this misses the point that the question wasn't whether it causes asthma attacks and/or is a nuisance, but rather whether it causes LONG-TERM damage to health, as in life-threatening cancers, vs. short-term problems to healthy people and those with health conditions that they must treat in a variety of situations other than just in the presence of cigarette smoke.

All that has been accomplished is the teaching that, when presented with information that disputes what you would like to believe, promptly ignore and/or attempt to discredit it, since you couldn't possibly be wrong yourself. Not only is that not a good thing, it propogates more disorganized thinking and a LACK of critical thinking.

This is the same reason why we have so many bible-thumpers unwilling to educate themselves about science, because they are too threatened by the idea that something might prove their assumptions incorrect.

The only *true* way to encourage critical thinking is to teach the child to see more than just their own biased point of view, and to teach that we must be just as critical of our own opinions as we are of the opinions in the media, otherwise we become slaves to our emotionally motivated opinions, which most often are not accurate.

Max