Is Critical Thinking a Good or Bad Thing?

This is absolutely NOT an academic tempest in a teapot

Most people would probably think that this is a foolish question — how can critical thinking be a bad thing? Let’s back up a bit, and you’ll see the issue…

Point #1 is that — by FAR — the biggest fear of those on the Left is to have critical-thinking citizens. Competent citizens who think for themselves are anathema to the Left in achieving its goals of undermining America.

Instead what the Left wants is conforming citizens. Conforming means citizens who: 1) go along with what is currently politically correct, 2) unquestionably follow the advice of “experts,” 3) accept the consensus view of matters, 4) support the conclusions of computer programs, 5) buy into one-sided “facts”, etc., etc.

The tsunami now overtaking us is artificial intelligence (AI). The applications and implications of AI are literally unfathomable. The number one defense against this reality distortion is Critical Thinking. The Left wants citizens to be easily manipulated by AI, so (again) they are adamantly opposed to Critical Thinking.

Point #2: Critical Thinking is a skill set. Some of this can be learned by those who are keenly observant, but by and large, it needs to be formally taught — just like what is needed to be a quality golfer, an accomplished chef, a productive scientist, etc.

Point #3: the most appropriate K-12 subject area for teaching the specifics of how to be a genuine Critical Thinker, is Science. The reason is that real scientists are instinctively skeptical, so they ask a lot of questions — why? when? how? Asking good questions is an essential element of being a true Critical Thinker.

Point #4: in 49 states the accepted K-12 Science standards are the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This was written by a group of progressives, so the phrase “critical thinking” does not appear in the NGSS!

Point #5: worse, the NGSS instead teaches the direct opposite of Critical Thinking: that citizens should be compliant and submissive (see above Point #1).

Point #6: for the first time a meaningful alternative to the NGSS was just introduced (see 6-18-24 webinar). It’s called the K-12 Franklin Science Standards. Kudos to the National Association of Scholars (NAS) for taking on this yeoman task!

Point #7: regretfully the Franklin Standards do not promote Critical Thinking!

Point #8: on the other hand the Franklin Standards do not propagandize students into compliance — so that’s a very good thing!

Point #9: the reason cited as to why the Franklin Standards do not promote Critical Thinking, is that a few woke extremists have supposedly categorized “Critical Thinking” as being an indicator of oppression by white people!

Point #10: since I never heard that fake connection, I researched it — and could not find it anywhere. The closest I could come up with was here, where it says that “objective, rational, linear thinking” is a white value: similar but not the same.

Point #11: even if Critical Thinking is labeled as a “white value,” does that mean we should abandon it, so we don’t offend someone? NO! (See here.) There are several reasons why:

a) 99±% of teachers, students, scientists, and the public are unaware of this phony claim — so it makes no sense to change doing what's right.

b) Even those who are aware of the perversion of this phrase should not be bullied into abandoning a powerful concept — which is what our enemies want.

c) Once we’ve allowed ourselves to be intimidated, it will not end. For example, the same people who oppose Critical Thinking also oppose the Scientific Method. Do we also go along with eliminating that (as the NGSS has done)?

d) The Left is purposefully causing confusion about Critical Thinking, as that is one of their most proven methods of mind control (see here).

e) Confusion about the meaning can be avoided by carefully defining "Critical Thinking" in the Franklin Standards, or wherever it is taught. 

Point #12: when confronted with Leftists objecting to any reasonable terminology, we should politely but firmly hold the line, making no concessions.

The Takeaway

Of all the Left’s many attacks being made on America, a strong case can be made that this is the most problematic — as well as the least discussed!

Carefully consider the fact that there are some 4 MILLION US high school graduates every year.

Now consider that most of those graduates will shortly become voting citizens.

How long can America survive when 4± MILLION propagandized, non-critically thinking citizens are added to the voting rolls every year?

For this reason alone, Critical Thinking is extraordinarily essential to be properly taught to our children.

On a more positive note, there are many other rewards for being a Critical Thinker! This is a powerful list of just some of the MANY fabulous benefits.

The bottom line is that any K-12 education program (particularly Science standards) that does not properly teach Critical Thinking is an abject failure.

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Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

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