Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Teaching children to fish and to ...

If I had kids I'd indoctrinate them to ask the following: How do we it's true, that is, what are our reasons for believing? How good are these reasons?

If we simply give children the answers to questions they grow up thinking they've already got unassailable knowledge and end up thinking that knowledge is that which comes out of the mouths of their personally preferred authorities. Encourage children to keep questioning and to ask the right questions and they become astute independent critical thinkers who have the ability to know and to assess an idea as to its position on the "reality spectrum" ranging from reason-based knowing to unsubstantiated belief.