Quote of the Day

 Why don’t people think? Because thinking is painful, difficult, and time-consuming. Dr. Herb Fred

Oklahoma public schools to teach about the 2020 election ‘discrepancies’ using real data, and leftists are losing it

May 19, 2025 By Olivia Murray

How dare public school teachers introduce hard, indisputable facts, and ask students to draw their own conclusions? Don’t they know that public schools are institutions meant to be used for the proliferation of progressivism? The teachers’ unions and leftist activists have worked so hard to eliminate silly and outdated things like arithmetic, civics, and rhetoric, replacing them with curricula like critical race theory, gender studies, and socialism—and now, Oklahoma is undoing the entire structure they’ve spent decades assembling.

Under state superintendent Ryan Walters, Oklahoma is set to implement curricula that will encourage critical thinking. Not only is that a problem in and of itself for leftist ideologues, but it’s what he and the other administrators are using to do so: the “discrepancies” of the 2020 election.  Translation: the school systems will be pumping out thinkers, which means they’ll be pumping out conservative voters. (I remain convinced that you can’t be a thinker and believe in leftism; you can be intelligent, or smart and be a leftist, but you cannot actually be critically analyzing reality.) Here’s the story, from a new article at The Hill:..............More

AI: How to Teach Critical Thinking

By John Droz, Jr., February 27, 2025 @ Critically Thinking on Select Societal Issues 

We are in agreement that Critically Thinking citizens would be a MAJOR benefit to themselves (e.g., see here) and to America.

Now that we have dismissed the specious argument that Critical Thinking is not teachable (and IS transferable from one subject area to another), the question is: how do we teach it in K-12?

I made a stab at this exceptionally important question here. My argument was: to break down the common attributes a Critically Thinking person has and teach each of those separately. When done it stands to reason that you will almost certainly end up with a Critically Thinking person.

I decided to pose this question to ChatGPT:  “What is the best way to teach Critical Thinking to K-12 students?” *

I thought that the ChatGPT answer was decent, so am republishing it:

“Teaching critical thinking to K-12 students is essential for helping them develop the skills to analyze information, make informed decisions, and solve problems effectively. Here are some effective strategies for teaching critical thinking to students of various age groups: 

1. Encourage Questioning

• Foster curiosity: Encourage students to ask questions about everything they learn. Promote an environment where they feel comfortable exploring ideas and expressing their thoughts.
• Model question-asking: Teachers can ask open-ended questions that stimulate thinking, such as "Why do you think that?" or "What evidence supports your view?"

2. Use Problem-Based Learning

• Real-world problems: Present students with real-world problems or scenarios where they must analyze information, evaluate options, and create solutions.
• Collaboration: Let students work together in groups to solve these problems. This fosters critical thinking through dialogue and the exchange of ideas.

3. Teach Logical Reasoning

• Deductive and inductive reasoning: Introduce the basic concepts of logical reasoning, such as distinguishing between generalizations and specific conclusions.
• Argument construction: Teach students how to make a valid argument by supporting their ideas with evidence and reasoning, as well as how to recognize weak arguments.

4. Encourage Reflection

• Self-assessment: Have students reflect on their thinking process, asking themselves questions like, "What was my reasoning?" or "Did I consider all the information?"
• Think-pair-share: This strategy encourages students to first think about a question on their own, then discuss it with a partner, and finally share ideas with the class.

5. Use Socratic Seminars

• Open-ended discussions: Hold class discussions where students are encouraged to think critically, listen to others' perspectives, and respond with thoughtful arguments. Use open-ended questions to guide the conversation.
• Respect differing viewpoints: Teach students how to respectfully disagree and build on others' ideas.

6. Use Media and Technology

• Evaluate sources: Teach students to analyze and question information found online, especially with the rise of misinformation.
• Media literacy: Provide exercises that require students to critically evaluate advertisements, news articles, and social media content.

7. Teach Cognitive Biases and Fallacies

• Awareness of bias: Help students understand common cognitive biases and logical fallacies so they can recognize them in their own thinking and in others' arguments.
• Fallacy detection exercises: Use examples from real life (such as media articles or debates) to identify fallacies and biases.

8. Provide Opportunities for Debate

• Structured debates: Let students engage in structured debates on various topics, encouraging them to argue from different perspectives. This improves their ability to think critically and argue persuasively.
• Classroom discussions: In addition to formal debates, give students time to voice their opinions and challenge each other's ideas in a constructive way.

9. Encourage Creative Problem Solving

• Brainstorming: Teach students to generate multiple solutions to a problem, emphasizing the importance of creativity in thinking.
• Scenario-based activities: Create hypothetical scenarios where students must think outside the box to find solutions.

10. Use Thinking Maps

• Graphic organizers: Tools like Venn diagrams, mind maps, and flowcharts can help students visualize their thinking process and organize ideas clearly.
• Visual learning: These visual aids can help students structure their critical thinking process, making complex ideas easier to understand and analyze.

11. Foster a Growth Mindset

• Emphasize effort over ability: Teach students that intelligence and critical thinking skills can be developed through hard work and persistence. Encourage them to view challenges as opportunities to grow.

12. Scaffold Critical Thinking Skills

• Gradual complexity: Start with simple tasks and gradually introduce more complex problems that require deeper analysis. This approach helps students build their skills over time.
• Step-by-step instruction: Break down critical thinking skills into smaller, manageable steps, like gathering evidence, making inferences, and drawing conclusions.

By integrating these strategies into teaching, K-12 students develop the critical thinking skills that are essential not only for academic success but also for navigating the world as informed and thoughtful individuals.”

———————————————————

So, what do you think?

A profoundly significant question is: which of the fifty States formally teach these concepts (preferably in Science curriculum), and then formally incorporate these ideas into the rest of their curricula?

To my knowledge, the answer is: None. Zero. Nada.

This is one of many reasons why eliminating the federal Department of Education (DOEd) and leaving the K-12 education system to the fifty States would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

On the other hand, if DOEd buys into the extreme importance of teaching Critical Thinking to K-12 students, they could publicly state that as part of their Mission Statement.

Then they could say to States: “If you want any of our $100B± discretionary money, we need satisfactory proof that you are formally teaching your K-12 students to be Critical Thinkers.”

That simple DOEd change would arguably be the most beneficial improvement to US K-12 education in the last 50+ years.

For newer subscribers, here are some of my prior relevant commentaries on this exceptionally significant topic:

1. Teaching Children to Think Critically
2. Teaching Us All How to Think Critically
3. K-12 Education: Knowledge vs Skills
4. Explaining the Importance of Critical Thinking
5. Why the US K-12 Education System is Failing
6. A Subscriber's Perspective on US K-12 Education
7. A Teacher's View about Teaching Children to Think Critically
8. Critically Thinking About Our Education System - Part 2

* If Critical Thinking was unteachable, that would have been the answer provided by ChatGPT — but it was not. Therefore, the logical deduction is that ChatGPT agrees that Critical Thinking is teachable. That said, I specifically asked ChatGPT the questions:   

1. ) is Critical Thinking teachable?  
2. ) Is Critical Thinking transferable from one subject area (domain) to another? I will publish the AI answers in a future column. 

---

 Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

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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K-12 Education: Knowledge vs Skills

By John Droz, Jr. @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

One of the most significant K-12 education battles today (and also among the least discussed) is between the forces who want to prioritize the teaching of Knowledge vs those who advocate for more emphasis on Skills. To the detriment of students and the public, the Knowledge proponents are winning by a landslide. I’ll explain why this is not a good development, below.

A word about Skills —

Skills are also called Competencies in the education business, but for here, I’ll stick with Skills… Some states claim to promote several Skills (e.g., here). This sounds nice, but there are two problems. First, these Skills are treated as if they are all of equal value, and they are not. Critical Thinking is the Master Skill — learning that will make an individual better at all the other listed Skills! However, it is not prioritized as it should be.

Second, despite assurances that “graduates will have these Skills” there is no evidence that any of them — especially Critical Thinking — are formally taught. For example, there are no Professional Development (PD) classes focused on educating teachers on how to teach Critical Thinking. Worse, there are no K-12 classes that are dedicated to teaching children how to be a Critical Thinker — and explaining all the benefits of doing so.

In other words, the advocacy of K-12 Skills is mostly aspirational and political. (I say political as State education departments know that legislators, parents, and citizens want to hear that their school system is producing Critical Thinkers, so they tell them what they want to hear.) No one is bothering to investigate whether that is really happening. An innate trait of bureaucracies is that their effort on any topic is in direct pro-portion to the investigative attention paid to it — which here is near zero.

Several words about Knowledge —

Knowledge is also called Content in the education trade, but for layperson purposes, I’m going to use the term Information. Right now, in most States, the Information vs Skills ratio of what is taught in K-12 schools is about 95/5. This is way off the mark for multiple reasons. There’s no scientifically proven perfect ratio, but 60/40 would be much better.

Here are some concerns about the over-emphasis of Information —

Point #1: Would we (as a Country) rather have a graduate (citizen) who has: a) high Information and low Skills, or b) lower Information and higher Skills? The evidence says we would be better off with “b,” but our public schools are designed to produce “a”.

Point #2: How many times have you heard someone say: “I was taught ABC {Information} in high school, but I’ve completely forgotten it”? How many times have you heard someone say: “I was taught to Critically Think in high school, but I’ve completely forgotten it”? The point is that skills stay with us longer than information.

Point #3: How many times have you heard school officials say: “Many of the jobs our K-12 students will eventually be employed in, don't even exist today”? What that indicates is that Information is relative, and in a fast-changing world, much of it can soon become outdated. Skills, on the other hand (like Critical Thinking), are largely independent of technical progress.

Point #4: All information is not good, as some is inaccurate. For example, teaching K-12 students that we need millions of wind turbines to save the planet from extinction, is provably false.

Point #5: All information is not good, as some is incomplete. For example, teaching K-12 students that fossil fuels are bad is a political view, not a representation of scientific reality. There are numerous well-documented benefits of fossil fuels.

Point #6: All information is not good, as some is counter-productive. For example, teaching students that they should just go along with: a) what is politically correct, or b) what the consensus view is, or c) what some experts assert, or d) what a computer program projects — are all messages that convey: “There is no need for you to spend time and effort on thinking about XYZ, as people much smarter than you have already determined what’s right and wrong, so just keep your thoughts to yourself." This is all about producing conformists, who are the opposite of Critical Thinkers!

Point #7: All information is not good, as some is age-inappropriate. For example, teaching eight-year-olds about LBGTQ is not age-appropriate.

Point #8: Interestingly the argument for focusing on Information is being undermined by technology. Today we can electronically query what the facts are about almost anything — so what’s the point of memorizing it?

Point #9: Being deluged with information gradually dulls the senses of students. Unconsciously, they focus on information retention, rather than the much more important information processing (a Skill).

Point #10: The Left acknowledges that they want to take control of our children’s thinking. As such, they are largely behind the emphasis on Information, as that is something they can easily control. And they are doing just that (e.g., see the NGSS). Who is paying any real attention to exactly what is being taught in K-12 subjects like Science?

Point #11: On the other hand, the number one fear of the Left is to have Critically Thinking citizens. As such they have gone to great lengths to squelch the teaching of Critical Thinking (a Skill) in K-12 education. As an example, one strategy being used is their false claim (see here) that Critical Thinking is not teachable.

Point #12: Having knowledge about something does not make you skilled in it. Likewise, being skilled at something does not mean you have all the required knowledge to excel at it. The proper balance is key.

Point #13: How has this intensive focus on teaching Information worked out? The standing of US K-12 students (on standardized tests in subjects like Science) has continued to go downhill for decades. At what point do we conclude that enough is enough, and we ought to seriously re-examine all of our education assumptions?

The Bottom Line —

Essentially everyone agrees that the US K-12 public school system is awash with serious problems. However, one of the reasons that we are making little headway is that the efforts of many good people are diluted by being aimed at good issues, but of secondary importance — like school choice.

There needs to be broad agreement that our top priority should be to produce Critically Thinking K-12 graduates. Until we are laser-focused on that, our decline will continue.

---

Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

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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Teaching Us All How to Think Critically, Part II

Ditching a misinformed opinion 

By John Droz, Jr. Feb 13, 2025 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

I was stunned to see the recent online presentation sponsored by a respected US conservative organization (AEI). (Note: when they say “think deeply” that is a synonym for “critical thinking”.) Here is one direct quote that I take issue with, from the K-12 education expert at AEI (my emphasis):

“…many curricula in recent decades have emphasized skill acquisition over building content knowledge. But ‘thinking deeply’ is not a skill that can be taught.”

Unpacking the irrationality behind this will be a future column. Today, I’ll simply outline my case that Critical Thinking IS a skill that can be taught.

How to Teach Critical Thinking —

Like many other activities (e.g., playing baseball), Critical Thinking is not just one ability. Instead, the skill of being a Critical Thinker is comprised of several attributes.

For example, to be a successful baseball player, an individual needs to be able to run well, throw well, catch well, hit well, and think well. If they do poorly on any of those, they do not make the grade of being a quality baseball player.

Another point about this analogy is that each of these individual attributes (run, hit, throw, catch, and think) is teachable.

Lastly, each of those abilities generally has broad applicability — e.g., being a good runner applies to numerous sports and activities.

So it is with the skill of Critical Thinking: 

 a) it is made up of multiple attributes,

 b) each of them is teachable, and  

c) all of them have broad applicability.

Of course, as with any skill, there are variations in the qualities of Critical Thinkers. How well an individual masters the individual components will determine how successful they will be as a Critical Thinker.

The Core Ingredients —

Exactly what are all of the essential attributes that all Critical Thinkers have, is a subject open for some debate. (Of course these presuppose that an individual has a good grasp of the 3Rs.) My suggested list is:

1- They are skeptical individuals who take pride in thinking for themselves,

2- They pay attention to perspective and pertinent details (i.e., look at issues from both macro and micro levels),

3- They think logically and creatively: linearly and laterally,

4- They are comfortable asking questions (which are probing and insightful), [see my prior commentary on this fundamental asset]

5- When they get answers, they have the interest and ability to separate the wheat from the chaff,

6- When communicating with others they often make connections that are not obvious, and

7- They are confident and have no qualms in taking minority positions.

Back to the analogy: if a specialty school advertises that they will teach your child to be a good baseball player, you trust that they very well know the individual attributes that are needed (run, hit, throw, catch, think, etc.), and that the school will do a quality job at training your child on all of them.

However, when a K-12 school (or school system) says that your child will graduate being a Critical Thinker (e.g., like here), should you trust that they are fully aware of the individual attributes that are needed, and that they will do a quality job at training your child on all of them?

Regretfully, I don't think so.

However, it’s easy enough to check out: ask!

If you asked such a question at a baseball school, they would have no problem saying: “Yes, we will teach your child to run, hit, throw, catch, and think very well.” And then they will show you equipment, exercises, etc. that will improve those attributes.

So, when a school says that they are “teaching Critical Thinking,” it sounds good but it is too amorphous a statement to be practical. The question is: exactly how?

The answer is to teach children (or adults) to be Critical Thinkers, by focusing on the essential attributes, one at a time. Each of these is teachable and learnable. However, they can not be taught if they are not specifically identified.

Note also that each of these attributes is transferable to multiple fields and situations — from choosing a romantic partner to voting for a political representative. The benefits are extraordinary — which is why this is so important to get right.

So What’s the Problem?

With all those benefits, why isn’t this happening in every K-12 school? The answer is disturbingly simple: because US K-12 schools have been purposefully hijacked by Left ideologists over the last several decades.

In doing this, Progressives have four primary anti-American education objectives, and all of them are extremely problematic:  

a) focus on K-12 schools, 

 b) emphasize content, not skills (like Critical Thinking),  

c) make sure that the content reflects Left ideology (e.g., fossil fuels are bad, etc.), and 

 d) assure that K-12 teacher certification colleges are on the same page.

These are at the core of why US K-12 schools are in a steady decline. Their efforts have been very successful, as almost no one (e.g., US conservative organizations) is paying adequate attention to these profound changes.

---

Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

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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Explaining the Importance of Critical Thinking

We can't succeed here if we can't convincingly explain WHY this is important

By John Droz, Jr. Oct 22, 2024 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues 

 I’ve talked a LOT about Critical Thinking here. I tend to think this matter (and its importance) is self-evident — but how do we explain all that to someone else?

Let’s say you are talking to a state legislator who is on your state’s K-12 education committee. You are trying to convey to them why properly teaching Critical Thinking in K-12 should be a top priority not only of the legislative education committee, but of all state legislators.

Below I’ve drafted up a logical outline of how to educate this individual.

Note 1: this can be used with anyone who does not understand the importance of Critical Thinking to our children and our society. Note 2: this explanation assumes that the person you are communicating with has a certain amount of competence plus an interest in the topic.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if something needs further clarification…

Let’s start with understanding our opponents.

The Number One fear of anti-Americans on the Left is to have Critically Thinking citizens. As a result, they have gone to GREAT lengths to minimize that from happening.

An essential part of defeating an adversary is to thoroughly understand their goals. In this case, it is to minimize the number of critically thinking citizens. Their sophisticated (and proven) plan is to make that happen in K-12 education.

FYI, regarding K-12 education, the Left’s perspective is quite different from the Right’s, in two major ways:

a) They are playing the Long Game. They have no problem implementing and adhering to a Plan that might take 20+ years to come to fruition. (Those on the Right are primarily involved in actions that produce much quicker results.)

b) They ascribe to Aristotle’s view: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” (Those on the Right are paying almost zero attention to the corrupted K-12 curricula.)

Now that we have those understandings, here is an outline of our explanation… 

Explanation: Part 1

We start with the definition of what Critical Thinking is. (Note: there are other definitions out there, but this seems to get at the nub of the issue! (If you are aware of a better one, please forward it ASAP.) 

Explanation: Part 2

We then need to fully appreciate the exceptional benefits of being a Critical Thinker. (Note: to my knowledge, no one else has put together such a list! If you are aware of one, please forward it ASAP.) 

Explanation: Part 3

Another key understanding is the "properly" taught part of teaching CT. I tried to provide a more detailed explanation of what that entails, here [A: (3)-(9)]. (Again, to my knowledge, no one else has addressed this essential part. As before, if you are aware of one, please forward it ASAP.) 

Explanation: Part 4

Next, it is imperative to understand that the US K-12 system is not in a vacuum regarding Critical Thinking where it is just not being taught. The reality is that the direct OPPOSITE of Critical Thinking is currently being taught in 49 states via the NGSS. (See full explanation  here.)

In other words, children are specifically being taught to be conformists — i.e., to defer to authority, to adhere to what is politically correct, to accept consensus views, to not question computer projections, etc., etc. All of these are effectively saying "Shut up and go along." That is what the Left's main objective is: to have compliant, unquestioning citizens.

Explanation: Part 5

Lastly, we need to fully understand the societal implications here. In the US, every year some four million students graduate from high school. A conservative estimate is that at least 75% of them not only do NOT know how to think critically, but they have been purposefully propagandized.

When we think about what this means, the implications of this are frightening. The most problematic consequence is that most of these graduates soon become voting citizens. In other words, our K-12 school system is producing 3± million new voters EVERY YEAR who not only are unable to think critically about societal matters but have been taught to robotically support whatever the Left-leaning ideology of the day is.

So that is my 5-Part strategy of explaining the basics and the importance of Critical Thinking to a State Legislator or any other seriously interested person. If you have suggested improvements, please share in the comments below… 

Postscript —

I (and a few others) are trying to stop this K-12-originated tsunami. For example, we are now supporting a Conservative candidate for Superintendent of North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction: Michele Morrow. .

She is not part of the education establishment, but rather a nurse and a mom who home-schooled her five children. She is fully onboard with genuinely teaching Critical Thinking, opposing SEL, etc.

The Left full well knows that Michele's election would be a body blow to their efforts to propagandize the US K-12 education system — so they published attacks against her within minutes of her winning the GOP primary in March (against the heavily favored incumbent).

If you live in NC (or know anyone who does), voting in the upcoming election is an extraordinary opportunity to make a major dent in the Left’s campaign to undermine America via our K-12 education system. No matter where you live, please consider donating to support this courageous woman.

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

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up for new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

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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Try A Brain

A humorous perspective 

John Droz jr. Aug 23, 2024 

Let’s have a short, light-hearted commentary this time. It’s very much on topic (critical thinking) {Click on the picture (here) to play the short video…}

 

Here are three major things that the Left is trying to do to us:

1. Get rid of Judeo-Christian standards, and replace them with Relativism.
2. Teach our children to be conformists, not Critical Thinkers.
3. Switch emphasis from Constitutional individual rights to group rights.

As the video above points out, using your Brain is the cure to such non-sense. More specifically, teaching K-12 children to be Critical Thinkers is a powerful solution.

---

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?

Leave a comment

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Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

What IS Critical Thinking?

It's about time we discussed that!

By John Droz jr. Jun 24, 2024 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

I’ve now written commentary for a few years about Critical Thinking, without formally defining it! Although that might seem to be a bit nonsensical, my position regarding Critical Thinking is similar to that famous phrase about pornography: “It’s hard to define it, but you know it when you see it.”

Why is Critical Thinking a Big Deal? Because there is no more important skill that a student should be taught. The benefits of being a Critical Thinker are amazingly broad, profoundly significant, and lifelong — see this list.

As such, Critical Thinking must be formally included in K-12 Science Standards (e.g., here), and ideally also in State Legislation (e.g., here). An essential part of making those happen is to agree on a definition, so that we are all on the same page.

Another important reason for doing this is to head off-at-the-pass the opponents of Critical Thinking, who will definitely be working to distort its true meaning. By spelling out what Critical Thinking is and is not, such an effort is doomed to fail.

Let’s start with the opposite of Critical Thinking, as that is easier to spell out. The antithesis of Critical Thinking is robotic conformity — i.e., being a lemming or a sheeple. Current K-12 Science Standards (NGSS) teach this!

This message is clearly and persistently communicated by conveying that students should accept what is currently politically correct, go along with consensus, defer to experts, support the conclusions of computer programs, buy into one-sided presentations of facts, etc., etc. [I’ll expand on this in my next commentary.]

Now that we are clear about what we do NOT want to teach students, below is my current draft for K-12 schools. I’m open to simple, constructive improvements, so please feel free to add comments below. 

NOTE: I will periodically update this definition as corrections or improvements are processed… 

§ XYZ. Critical Thinking

(1) A basic definition is that Critical Thinking is looking at things wider and deeper.

(2) An academic definition is that Critical Thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of skillfully synthesizing, conceptualizing, and evaluating information, as a guide to belief and behavior.

(3) Critical Thinking can be seen as having two teachable components: a) a set of information processing skills, and b) the habit (based on intellectual commitment), of continually using those skills (grounded in fair-mindedness and intellectual integrity) to positively influence the thinker’s perspectives and actions.

(4) Students will be taught how to do Critical Thinking in Science classes. Scientists are people who are trained to ask questions (who?, why?, when?, how?, etc.), and questioning what one is told is foundational to Critical Thinking. Critical Thinking will be encouraged and applied in ALL subject areas, from kindergarten through high school.

(5) Critical Thinking will be presented in such a way that students will appreciate its extreme importance in essentially all aspects of life (e.g., employment, selection of a life partner, civic responsibility, maintaining optimal health, etc.). Some additional outcomes of proper Critical Thinking education are that students will have improved decision-making, better self-management, as well as more self and interpersonal awareness.

(6) Students will be educated about how Critical Thinking is a powerful tool that enables them to be aware of (and sensitive to) internal illusions (e.g., cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias) as well as external deceptions (e.g., media misinformation and groupthink).

(7) Students will be educated that Critical Thinking arguments rely on facts, not feelings (or the much weaker political position of consensus).

(8) Students will be educated that Critical Thinking should be applied (not disengaged) when they encounter claims from computer models and experts.

(9) One’s level of Critical Thinking quality will be a matter of degree, and dependent on factors like attentiveness, commitment, interest in objectivity, etc. concerning particular issues.

(10) Once properly instilled, the development of the Critical Thinking skill and disposition is a life-long endeavor that should be instinctive, pervasive, empowering, and enjoyable

Let me know any questions, or suggestions for improvements.

FYI, just for kicks, I tried out the latest version of Poe AI: Claude-3.5-Sonnet. I asked: “What is critical thinking?” The answer was reasonably decent:

Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully analyzing, evaluating, and applying information to form a judgment or solve a problem. Some key elements of critical thinking include:

1. Asking questions and identifying assumptions: Critically thinking individuals question information, look for biases, and identify unstated assumptions.
2. Evaluating evidence: They examine the reliability, relevance, and sufficiency of evidence to support a claim or conclusion.
3. Considering different perspectives: Critical thinkers try to understand multiple viewpoints on an issue before forming their own opinion.
4. Drawing logical conclusions: They use sound reasoning to arrive at well-reasoned judgments and solutions.
5. Reflecting on the thinking process: Critical thinkers think about their own thought processes and are willing to re-evaluate their positions based on new information.

Developing strong critical thinking skills is important for effective decision-making, problem-solving, and being an informed and engaged citizen. It involves cultivating habits of the mind such as intellectual humility, curiosity, and open-mindedness.

---

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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Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues 2024 Archives: January thru June

A helpful way for you to check out my 2024 Critical Thinking commentaries that you may have missed.  Since we are at the midpoint of 2024, let’s look back.

By John Droz, Jr., July 1, 2024

 As I continue to add readers, some of them are probably not aware of Critical Thinking commentaries I published earlier in the year or before. Yes, anyone can check out the Archives — but do they? 

In any case the Archives are chronologically arranged, while this 2024 list of my commentaries is sorted by topic. Although some commentaries could be under more than one topic, I put them where they seemed to be most applicable. 

I had to do this manually, so there might be a typo, etc. someplace. Hopefully this list will be of value to you. 

Note 1: The comments for all these article are still open, so feel free to share your insights, after any commentary listed. 

 Note 2: This list will be available in the Archives if you’d like to refer to it at a later. 

Note 3: To go one step further back, check out the 2023 Archives by topic.

Note 4: I was a bit surprised how relatively evenly the commentaries were divided by topic. That said, if you’d like to see more about a particular topic, please say so in the comments below. I think that the depth and breadth of the material covered here speaks for itself. 

Please pass this free information onto other open-minded parties. Thank you for your support!

Critical Thinking Is THE Answer: The benefits available to Critical Thinkers are simply STUPENDOUS

What is Critical Thinking?

What’s the Opposite of Critical Thinking?

Is Critical Thinking a Good or Bad Thing?

EDUCATION —

The Most Powerful Education Idea Ever? A Single New High School Science Class Would Be Revolutionary

Utilizing the Power of School Choice: What a waste if not fully optimized!

Addressing Student Behavior Issues in K-12 Public Schools: A slew of liberal ideas has contributed to this becoming a formidable problem

Saving K-12 Private Schools: What seems daunting is actually rather simple

Saving American Children - Part 1, aka Saving America - Part 1

Saving American Children - Part 2, aka Saving America - Part 2

BELIEFS —

Change Beliefs => Change Actions: An example

Some Observations about Beliefs - Part 1: This is not about religious beliefs, but rather our beliefs about everything...

Some Observations about Beliefs - Part 2: Some of my Business and Personal Beliefs

Some Observations about Beliefs - Part 3: How to change the Beliefs of others — which will change their Actions...

CLIMATE CHANGE —

It’s Time to Make a Strategic PR Pivot in Dealing with the Climate Change Issue: Nothing short of Traditional Science is at stake here

Who is Winning the Climate Change War? Also: proof that the Climate and COVID alarmists used the same tactics...

Carbon Capture Doesn’t Work, So Why Are They Doing It? This is yet again another VERY bad idea...

ENERGY —

“All of the Above” — a VERY Bad Idea. This is a lobbyist energy motto — not a Science-based one

Wind Turbines = Enormous "Unintended" Consequences. The inevitable result when political science is substituted for real Science

Wind Turbine Related Radiation. Wind Energy is NOT Free, Clean, or Green

Nuclear Power Radiation — Part 1: Radiation from Normal Nuclear Facility Operations, Waste, and Misc...

Nuclear Power Radiation — Part 2: Radiation from Facility Accidents, Man-made Disasters, and Natural Disasters

Nuclear Is A Renewable Energy. Wind and Solar lobbyists are fighting this reality

ELECTIONS —

Defending John Eastman — Part 3: Bad news, but it's not a surprise anymore...

An Election Integrity Analogy: Good Efforts do NOT assure Good Results

A Proposed Federal Election Integrity Law: This is WAY overdue!

1 - How to Win the US Presidency — The upcoming elections have never been more important. Again.

2 - The Rhyme and Reason of Negative Ballots? Our election system's gaping loophole of non-transparent ballot "corrections"

3 - 2020 Presidential Election Related Lawsuits: What they did (and did not) reveal

4 - Should Voting Machines be Scrapped? Do they make reported election results more accurate?

5 - Have We had Honest or Dishonest Elections? Knowing which one we are dealing with makes a WORLD of difference...

POLITICS —

My Assessment of the Debate — A Non-political Perspective

Trump NY Trial Commentary: Your rights as an American citizen are directly at stake here

A Different Perspective on What's Dividing Us (Culture differences explain some things better than racial differences do...)

More Misleading Statistics: Critical Thinkers will not be fooled!

Fixing Congress' Worst Problem (And you've likely never even heard about it!)

SCIENCE —

Book Author(s) Wanted! Write a Guaranteed NY Times Best Seller

Ten (10) Ways Science is Being Attacked There are more, but this is the condensed version...

How I "Made Sea Level Rise Go Away"! A short story behind the story

Mann v Steyn (and us) An exceptionally important trial started January 16, 2024

More Evidence that Critical Thinking has Left the Building: The jury's Mann v Steyn conclusion

HEALTH —

More Deception from Once Reliable Medical Sources: Paxlovid, Part 1 (If we can't trust Johns Hopkins, what established sources are left?)

More Deception from Once Reliable Medical Sources: Paxlovid, Part 2 (If we can't trust Johns Hopkins, what established sources are left?)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE —

Is This AI Deception or Incompetence? Or Both — or Something Else?...

RELIGION —

Let's Not Offend Anyone! Who makes up the rules for secular religions?

SOCIAL ISSUES —

At What Point Do We Say ENOUGH? (III) Critically thinking about what's happening to America

Solving Some Major Societal Problems (Using Critical Thinking Skills makes it MUCH Easier to do)

Let’s Have More Civility…Is this possible under current circumstances?

There is No Such Thing as Social Justice Here

The “Evils of Whiteness — Yet another element of the secular religion

SELF-IMPROVEMENT —

Our Strongest Strength can be our Greatest Weakness: Plus a suggested solution

Mind Control via Confusion, etc. This will only get worse, so get educated!

MISC —

Private Property Rights: A common issue when wind or solar projects are being proposed

My Being on a National TV Quiz Show! A brief version of what happened

Good or Bad: You Decide (An unpleasant life experience...)

An Insurance Scam that Affects Us All: We are being fleeced by film-flam artists

The Smartest Person in the World Wiffs: Marilyn vos Savant makes a major gaff

Read About An Apparently Amazing Person — Someone I wish I knew!

College Football is a Microcosm of our Society: Who is at Fault for the Transfer Portal Debacle: Colleges, or Athletes, or?

---

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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Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

Thinking Critically and Joe Biden

By Common Sense @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues 

Editor's Note:  John Droz published his evaluation of the Biden/Trump debate, and here was one of the comments, which I thought was excellent and was given permission to publish it.  RK

Critically thinking?  Biden and all Democrats have shown they are in it purely for power and money. They have demonstrated that they are prepared to weaponize the DOJ, CIA, FBI, CFR, judges, etc. against the leading contender for president. Some state AG's are now demonstrating the extent of Democrat election fraud in 2020. If the Hunter files were not falsely discredited by the alphabet agencies Trump would have easily won the 2020 election. Despite CNN's efforts in this debate they still could not carry a failing and oft-proven liar Biden across the line this time. If the Democrats manage to fraud this election as well, the USA and it's Constitution will be cancelled. Count on it.

Trump may not have an exemplary lexicon, but his intentions, his character and his first term presidency demonstrated his allegiance is with America, not foreign nations like Ukraine. If his first term was not deliberately hamstrung by the Covid 'Plandemic' he likely would have sailed into his second term. The 'Deep State' is real and they were determined to prevent Trump from further discovering and exposing them and thus Biden was their ticket. Deny it if you wish, but any confirmation bias aside and you will realise America is in a mess because of the Biden / Democrat mismanagement.

Trump never created wars. Clinton, Bush, Obama and Biden did. During Trump's first term Russia was on a short leash, China was held to account, North Korea was on a short leash, Iran was economically desperate and contained, Isis was stopped in it's tracks, Europe was made to pay for their own defense, Saudi Arabia were opening up to middle east peace, America's economy was going well (except for the deliberate spoke-in-the-wheel Plandemic), the UN was confronted for their corruption and dishonesty, inflation was low and unemployment achieved some record lows.

Surely anyone with any common sense and critical thinking ability can see that Trump was not the bogeyman that the news media propagandize him as?

What's the Opposite of Critical Thinking?

As you'll see, there's a LOT of this going on! 

John Droz jr. Jun 27, 2024 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

In my last commentary, I elaborated on a proposed definition of Critical Thinking. Although there were a few suggested refinements, I received no major objections. (If you have any, please put them in the comments below.)

Equally important is what Critical Thinking is NOT. Towards that end, in my most recent article, I outlined a brief layperson overview of some actions that would be considered the opposite of Critical Thinking:

People accepting what is currently politically correct, going along with consensus, deferring to experts, supporting the conclusions of computer programs, buying into one-sided presentations of facts, etc., etc.

I thought I would again test out the new version of Poe AI: Claude-3.5-Sonnet, to see what it had to say about that question — and the answer was rather good:

“The opposite of Critical Thinking could be described in several ways, depending on the context and specific aspects of Critical Thinking being considered. Some possible opposites or contrasts to Critical Thinking include:

Uncritical Thinking: Accepting information or ideas without questioning or analyzing them.

Gullibility: Being easily persuaded or deceived, lacking skepticism.

Dogmatism: Adhering rigidly to preconceived notions or beliefs without considering alternative viewpoints.

Emotional reasoning: Basing conclusions solely on feelings rather than logic and evidence.

Impulsive Thinking: Making quick judgments without careful consideration of facts and consequences.

Confirmation Bias: Seeking out only information that supports pre-existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Groupthink: Conforming to popular opinion without individual critical analysis.

Magical Thinking: Believing in unnatural causality or disregarding logic and evidence in favor of wishful thinking.

Fallacious Reasoning: Relying on logical fallacies or invalid arguments to draw conclusions.

Closed-mindedness: Refusing to consider new ideas or perspectives that challenge existing beliefs.

These behaviors and thought patterns represent various ways in which people might engage in non-critical thinking — essentially doing the opposite of what Critical Thinking entails.”

Yes, those are all bad intellectual habits that should be comprehensively and objectively discussed, (particularly when teaching Science in K-12 schools), so that they can be studiously avoided. However, in general, that is NOT happening (e.g., none of these ten items are covered in the NGSS)…

This is an enormous deficiency in our K-12 education system that needs to be properly fixed, yesterday!

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?

Leave a comment

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Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week). 

 Pledge your support for Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

Is Critical Thinking a Good or Bad Thing?

This is absolutely NOT an academic tempest in a teapot 

John Droz, Jr. Jun 20, 2024 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

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 submissive citizens. Submissive 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: 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.

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?

Leave a comment

Share

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

Pledge your support for Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues