School Sucks

The Essential School Sucks, #24 of 50 Theme Three: What It Means To Be Educated We move from self-directed learning to its outcome: critical thinking. Today I'll discuss one of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of it: our persistent uncritical thoughts and feelings. (November, 2016) What is wrong with John Oliver? What's wrong with Donald Trump? What's wrong the anti-Trump anti-reality protestors? What was wrong with me the other day when I suddenly felt impelled to hatch a conspiracy theory about Trump's election being part of a "larger plan" with little evidence? What's wrong with an alarming number of the interactions in School Sucks Facebook group lately? Political thinking is often quick thinking. Thinking quickly is an evolution-driven feature that was once necessary for our survival. But in a vastly more complex world than the one our species grew up in, this mode of thought is often dangerous and destructive. Look around. Sometimes some people, even libertarians, use mental shortcuts to arrive at faulty conc