Great piece. Thank you. This is exactly what is happening in public and private schools today- actual critical thinking skills have been replaced by slogans and activism. We are training a generation of kids to be reactive, performative and narcissistic; not deep thinkers who come to understand the world through logic, humility and experience.
I was sitting on my steps waiting for an Uber and looking around. It struck me that every individual walking on the sidewalk and across the street , had their eyes downcast , glued to their i-phone. What a creepy scene it was.
Thanks. This piece reminds me of my favorite part of Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 when Capt Beatty describes to the main character, Montag, how societal character deteriorated to the point where burning of books was not only acceptable, but demanded.
Unfortunately, too true. We are inundated with information and reading/listening material, but, aren't willing to put in the time to read through anything that is difficult to digest, analyze, and conclude. To cut everyone some slack, yes, we all know there is too much information and we cannot cover it all. That's the reason for the rise of Tik Tok and all those YouTube sound bites. Not sure what the solution is, but, definitely part of it, is to get kids away from smart phones in their younger years and attempt old methods of teaching and reason.
Paul, Excellent article. I’m in Winnipeg and have been reading the Free Press for 60 years. The editorials are pure propaganda for a woke agenda. Letters to the editor chosen to accentuate their own views. To show objectivity they post letters from Jewish readers that are anti- zionist and anti-Israel. Maddening.
On another note I buy many books but I’ve have no time to read them. Substacks like yours, numerous podcasts , YouTubes take all my time.
I’m 68 ,with AI and these new forms of information I’m learning more now than ever before so I am hopeful over time we all benefit from these technological changes to become much more aware of what’s really going on.
> There was a time when even a partisan reader expected more than slogans. One might disagree, even violently, with a column, but one was required to engage with it. Arguments had structure. Conclusions followed premises. Readers were invited, however imperfectly, into the discipline of reasoning.
When was this time? Because I can assure you, if we were to look at contemporary publications we would find people making the same complaint.
Critical thinking had gone the way fo the dodo bird, as exemplified in the case of your firing by an institution supposedly devoted to critical thinking. The professorate is the source of contemporary evil and should be abolished, along with the UN and a host of other culprits too numerous to name. The world today makes nuclear war appealing.
Great piece. Thank you. This is exactly what is happening in public and private schools today- actual critical thinking skills have been replaced by slogans and activism. We are training a generation of kids to be reactive, performative and narcissistic; not deep thinkers who come to understand the world through logic, humility and experience.
I was sitting on my steps waiting for an Uber and looking around. It struck me that every individual walking on the sidewalk and across the street , had their eyes downcast , glued to their i-phone. What a creepy scene it was.
Thanks. This piece reminds me of my favorite part of Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 when Capt Beatty describes to the main character, Montag, how societal character deteriorated to the point where burning of books was not only acceptable, but demanded.
Unfortunately, too true. We are inundated with information and reading/listening material, but, aren't willing to put in the time to read through anything that is difficult to digest, analyze, and conclude. To cut everyone some slack, yes, we all know there is too much information and we cannot cover it all. That's the reason for the rise of Tik Tok and all those YouTube sound bites. Not sure what the solution is, but, definitely part of it, is to get kids away from smart phones in their younger years and attempt old methods of teaching and reason.
Paul, Excellent article. I’m in Winnipeg and have been reading the Free Press for 60 years. The editorials are pure propaganda for a woke agenda. Letters to the editor chosen to accentuate their own views. To show objectivity they post letters from Jewish readers that are anti- zionist and anti-Israel. Maddening.
On another note I buy many books but I’ve have no time to read them. Substacks like yours, numerous podcasts , YouTubes take all my time.
I’m 68 ,with AI and these new forms of information I’m learning more now than ever before so I am hopeful over time we all benefit from these technological changes to become much more aware of what’s really going on.
I was a Free Press paperboy growing up
> There was a time when even a partisan reader expected more than slogans. One might disagree, even violently, with a column, but one was required to engage with it. Arguments had structure. Conclusions followed premises. Readers were invited, however imperfectly, into the discipline of reasoning.
When was this time? Because I can assure you, if we were to look at contemporary publications we would find people making the same complaint.
Critical thinking had gone the way fo the dodo bird, as exemplified in the case of your firing by an institution supposedly devoted to critical thinking. The professorate is the source of contemporary evil and should be abolished, along with the UN and a host of other culprits too numerous to name. The world today makes nuclear war appealing.
Another bullseye. And great graphics, too.