Naivete, the Internet and a Good Education in Critical Thinking

Y'know, I am greatly saddened by the state of our state, country and world. Not for the mess we are in but for the much bigger mess we are continuing to move towards. I laugh at how so many Obama critics blame him for our economic problems and cry "Socialist!" yet I know myself and many, many of my friends were actually laid-off before the man even stepped foot in office. Aren't we a capitalist nation? Isn't that actually defined as a Darwinian approach to our economy? Wasn't Bush the one that began paying off American companies to keep them afloat because their practices risked their own survival? Okay, I am going to stop here as I have begun to touch upon only the slightest tip of a very large iceberg and this isn't the focus of this article.

What is important to realize is that as much as I love the internet, it is now such a bastion of opinion and misinformation that the truth is even harder to see than before. Sure, it is still possible to "read-between-the-lines" as it were and find the truth. Distill out others opinions, advertisements and propaganda down to what is really being said so that I can have a better understanding of individuals refusal to work together, protect their own asses (despite losing it slowly, anyway) and protect a company/corporation that would turn its back on them to save itself and blatantly cling on to American ideals from the 1980's that really should never have become so entrenched in the first place.

I had a professor in college (whose name now escapes me) that was very opinionated regarding what a place of higher learning should be. She had no problem expressing how today (and this was in the 90's) colleges and universities had become no more than trade schools and the idea of "higher-learning" and the individual's education of how to think critically, was being lost. She felt we were being led to an end and not taught how to decide how to best achieve whatever end we wanted. I, initially thought, her views were a bit extreme but I always admired her passion. Lately, I have come to realize she was pretty damned prophetic in our society of supposed free-information. Her words (if not her name) continue to echo in my mind.

Now, more than ever, the need for reasoning and critical thinking become paramount. As most of our population regurgitates the opinions of others, why can't we at least teach our children to see both the forest and the trees, as well as understanding how to separate them. Forgive my analogy but I am trying to be as concise as possible. Please teach anyone you know (especially the young) how to see things with not only a critical eye but also a reasoning one. as these two things go hand-hand-hand. You may scoff but think about what I am really saying. Teach your children the ability to think for themselves. Is that really such a bad thing? Are you happy with the world?

Resources that can give you a good base to begin...

Wikipedia - Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Dot Org