The Key To Political Change: Educating Rural/Working Class Communities In Critical Thinking

"In this episode of the Outrage Overload Podcast, we challenge one of the most dominant narratives of our time: that polarization is the root cause of America’s divisions. But what if it’s not? What if our focus on polarization is actually obscuring deeper, more urgent problems—problems that are solvable?

"Join me as I sit down with Rich Harwood, founder of the Harwood Institute, to explore groundbreaking insights from the Institute’s 2022 report, Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis. Rich shares stories and strategies from his decades of work with communities across the country, offering a fresh perspective on how we can rebuild trust, foster collaboration, and create real change."

Click on the link below for the details:

Fighting Polarization with Local Solutions That Work

The History Of Modern Science

"Modern science is generally considered to have originated in Western Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries. However, there are different views on when exactly it began, including:

• The High Middle Ages: Some say that modern science began in 1277.

• The Italian Renaissance: Others believe that the Italian Renaissance was a rebirth of the sciences.

• The Scientific Revolution: This period is traditionally thought to have begun with the Copernican Revolution in 1543 and ended with Isaac Newton's Principia in 1687.

• The 17th century: Some say that modern science began in the 17th century when the world was examined more closely with instruments like the telescope, microscope, clock, and barometer.

(AI Overview)

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No matter the EXACT date, it has been within humanity for several centuries and has advanced exponentially since the above. And yet, the majority of humanity has no clue about it.

Conservatives Hate Education

"Last week, West Virginia University (WVU) announced a plan to raze some of its core programs. The public land-grant university intends to eliminate 9 percent of its majors (32 programs total), all of its foreign language programs, and 16 percent of its full-time faculty members (169 in total). The departments targeted for these massive cuts count Truman, Marshall, Fulbright, and Rhodes scholars among their alumni. These cuts were recommended by the consulting firm rpk GROUP, and there’s every reason to believe they’re a trial balloon for doing this elsewhere. Anyone who cares about higher education should be alarmed about what this portends for public universities."

 

Click on the link below for more information reflecting on another target by the anti-education/anti-critical thinking conservative/Republicans/MAGAs:

The Evisceration of a Public University

Herd Mentality: Humanity's Achilles Heel

Herd Mentality: a psychological phenomenon that describes the tendency of people to conform to the beliefs or behaviors of a group they are part of. It can be seen in many aspects of life. (AI Overview)

Documentaries: Some Are Fiction

"People understandably expect to be presented with facts when they watch a documentary. There are, however, some notable or high-profile things that documentaries got wrong. Although truth and authenticity are elements every nonfiction film should strive for, movies are made by people, and sometimes people make mistakes, or have a bias or agenda related to a controversial subject that leads to inaccuracies, omissions, or misleading conclusions. Historical documentaries are particularly susceptible to these flaws."

Click on the link below for insight into a product of media that can violate your sense of trust by lying to you:

Famous Documentaries That Bent The Truth

Why Can't The Majority Accept Expert Opinion?

Fact: Biden is ranked 14th in scholars' presidential rankings; Trump is last (link)

Fact: Trump is ahead in most of the latest polls (link)

Fact: Republican and MAGA voters vote against themselves, especially in the south (link)

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Thus, there is a need for universal education in Critical Thinking! (link)

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The Theory Of Stupidity

"Discover the path to wisdom and clarity, leaving stupidity behind. In this enlightening video, we delve into the depths of human cognition to understand the pitfalls of ignorance. Don't be trapped in the cycle of foolishness and flawed thinking. Explore practical insights and strategies to expand your awareness, challenge biases, and make wiser choices. Embrace the power of critical thinking, and let wisdom guide your path. Join us on this transformative journey to unlock your full potential and avoid the perils of stupidity."

Click on this link for a 5-min video presenting the tools of wisdom that avoid the perils of stupidity.

Oh, and this stuff is not new: Bonhoeffer, during Hitler's reign, saw clearly what we are facing with Trump, MAGA, and virtually all Republicans in the USA. (link)

Socrates And Democracy

"We’re used to thinking hugely well of democracy. But interestingly, one of the wisest people who ever lived, Socrates, had deep suspicions of it."

Click on this link for a frank look at the soft underbelly of education in the USA. THIS is the reason why the disinformation and gaslighting of the Republicans are so successful. Even if the Democrats win in November, our democracy will be tentative for decades unless the USA changes regarding education and critical thinking.

The Need For Appealing To Emotions When Communicating Science

"Although it’s of course always better to frame an argument or present research in an objective, rational matter, people have a tendency to respond well to appeal to emotion. In this sense, presenting scientific research as something that can be evocative, powerful, and emotional is, in my belief, a good tactic to get the general public invested in science. Getting people to care about our research, our study species, and our findings is a difficult task but one that is absolutely necessary for the longevity and development of science at both the national and global levels.

"Pretending the science is emotionless and apathetic is counterproductive to the very things that drove us to do the science in the first place. Although we should attempt to be aware of, and distance, our emotions from the objective, data-based analysis of our research, admitting and demonstrating our passions (and why we feel so passionate) is critical in distilling science into the general population. Science should be done rationally and objectively but driven by emotional characteristics such as wonder, curiosity, and fascination."

Click on the links below for more insight into the need to use emotion to enthuse the general public about science. After all, humans first evolved by surviving using instinct, intuition, and emotion. Science shows us that these processes are BASIC within our psyche and science-based thinking is a late development that is more difficult and many times presents uncomfortable results:

Emotional science: passion, spirituality and curiosity

Confessions of a Real Life Scientist: The Thrill of Learning

https://www.ecrea.eu/page-18206/7356944

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2002484118?doi=10.1073%2Fpnas.2002484118

https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/issue/view/168

Climate Change And The Details Of Science

"Many of the world's biggest problems require asking questions of scientists -- but why should we believe what they say? Historian of science Naomi Oreskes thinks deeply about our relationship to belief and draws out three problems with common attitudes toward scientific inquiry -- and gives her own reasoning for why we ought to trust science."

Click on the link below for the details of the best method to understand reality:

Why we should trust scientists

An Excellent Tool For Teaching Critical Thinking To Children

Don't be put off by the title:

"The Sunday school teacher is out. Good thing a substitute is available: Satan! 

"SATAN'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE is an animated documentary. Join Satan as he shares Bible secrets, secrets the students' pastor learned at Christian seminary but is afraid to share. Thankfully, Satan's not afraid of losing his job. 

"Satan has amassed an impressive list of biblical scholars ready to reveal the 'standard stuff' taught in Christian seminaries: Bart Ehrman (UNC Chapel Hill), John J. Collins (Yale), Dale Allison (Princeton Seminary), Susan Niditch (Amherst), Ron Hendel (UC Berkeley), and Hector Avalos (Iowa State). This is an established seminary curriculum about biblical history, biblical morals, authorship claims, and early Christianity — a curriculum never shared with the congregation. 

"Darkly comedic, but thoroughly researched, SATAN'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE is a fascinating journey into the secrets of the world's best-selling book.

Directed by documentary filmmaker Zeke Piestrup (APOCALYPSE LATER: HAROLD CAMPING VS THE END OF THE WORLD) and produced by animation filmmaker Tim Johnson (ANTZ, OVER THE HEDGE, HOME)"

Click here for the hour-and-a-half video

The Most Important Book I Ever Read

There are uncountable great books. However, this one book, that I was required to read as a Freshman in college in the 1960s, was my introduction to critical/science-based thinking and it stuck. What a shame that formal education never has really adopted this simple philosophy:

"We destroy the disinterested (I do not mean uninterested) love of learning in children, which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to work for petty and contemptible rewards — gold stars, or papers marked 100 and tacked to the wall, or A’s on report cards. In short, for the ignoble satisfaction of feeling that they are better than someone else. We kill, not only their curiosity, but their feeling that it is a good and admirable thing to be curious so that by the age of ten most of them will not ask questions, and will show a good deal of scorn for the few who do." ~John Holt

(Book: How Children Fail [ad] https://amzn.to/47wCJvA)

(Art: Photograph by Bernard Hoffman)

The Republican War On Critical Thinking

"History has shown us repeatedly what happens when tyrants take education away from the public. Can the Republican led war on public schools turn generation Z, from Doomers to dumber? OR, will we learn from history so as not to repeat it?"

Click on the link below for the details of the Republican effort to end public education so that ignorance, unsupported ideology, and autocracy reigns in the USA:

The Frightening Reason Behind the Republican War Against Critical Thinking in Schools

A Look At The Status Of Education In The USA

One has to be willfully ignorant not to see that education in the USA is at a crisis point. There are too many factors involved with the issue for me to address in one post. The following is my STRONG opinion regarding the curriculum within public high schools. I am assuming that the elementary and middle schools are doing their job in preparing the students for high school.

This post is prompted by three deficiencies presently:

• Vocational/Trade Education is minimized.
• Many do not need a 4-year college education. It is overly expensive, with many majors not leading to liveable-wage employment.
• Civics needs to be more adequately presented.
• It should not be just one class in high school, it should begin in elementary school.
• Critical Thinking is essentially absent.

HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM

• Basic math (geometry, statistics, and algebra)
• Civics
• Critical thinking
• Reading (fiction; non-fiction)
• Writing
• Basic science (general physics, general biology, general chemistry)
• Basic US/world history
• Electives in prep for future: college; vocational/trade school

A Tale Of Two Houses

Once Upon A Time, there were two houses built in a nice neighborhood. They looked alike from the outside but their owners differed in how to manage and improve their homes and neighborhood. One owner (the Arrs) thought that they had all the answers to taking care of their home and didn't care what was happening to the neighborhood at large. They refused the help of neighbors and, when needed, the advice of experts when things broke. The other owner (the Dees) realized that they needed help in maintaining their home. When they needed help, they consulted their neighbors, and experts if such were needed. They also wanted to help the rest of the neighborhood to be as well-maintained as their house. 

As time passed, this is what the two houses looked like:

This lesson is hard to understand if one is not thinking critically, and with empathy.

An Example Of How To Handle Claims Even From The Credible

All of us are drowning in claims from very many sources. We are tempted to accept claims without scrutiny if the source has a good reputation in a pertinent field. Beau of the Fifth Column presents a simple tool to use even on reputable folks. Beau is using this claim as an example. 

Click on the link below for details:

Let's talk about that article about the pipeline

TV And The Lowest Common Denominator

In mathematics, the lowest common denominator is the smallest number of all the common multiples of the denominators when 2 or more fractions are given. In the media, it refers to the appeal to as many people as it possibly can so that advertisements are worth more and the revenue stream will steadily increase. 

Since the most prominent media in our culture is network television, one can expect that the level of education of the target audience would be the lowest in this media. Thus, the proliferation of mind-numbing shows like "The Housewives of (fill-in-the-blank)", fake wrestling, "not-very-funny" comedy, and network news that promote "fair and balanced" reporting and opinions without consideration of facts and the findings of science. For example, it is rare for them to truly present the harmful effects of religious activities, as well as alternatives to medicine, conspiracy theories, and other pseudoscience. 

In light of the above, there has never been a greater need for mandatory age-appropriate education in critical thinking and rigorous, timely fact-checking of all media. A gullible society can be easily molded by unscrupulous actors, including but not limited to corporations, politicians, and organized religions.

Society has figured out how to handle physical trash (sort of, at least). It's more than time for brain trash to be appropriately handled.

Childhood Beliefs: Okay If Used To Introduce Critical Thinking Skills?

"I have been distraught by a deep moral issue lately. There is no way I will ever teach, or let my children follow religion. But I commonly relate religion and santa clause. I have been seriously debating whether or not it is a good idea to let children believe in santa clause or the tooth fairy. Since religion is so closely related, are those also terrible things to let children believe in?"

Click on the link below for science-based thoughts on this question:

On childhood beliefs

Conspiracy Theories: The Fear Factor

"This past year, COVID-19 and the U.S. elections have provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories—with sometimes disastrous consequences. Karen Douglas, PhD, of the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, discusses psychological research on how conspiracy theories start, why they persist, who is most likely to believe them and whether there is any way to combat them effectively."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting an in-depth psychological analysis of conspiracy theories:

Why people believe in conspiracy theories

Are Atheists More Intelligent Than Christians?

There have been several decades of research claiming to support the hypothesis that atheists are more intelligent than Christians. However, there is a growing consensus that this research is not measuring intelligence, which is controversial in itself, but greater dependence on intuition rather than logic and reason in thinking and decision-making by the religious (link)(link). In addition, there is criticism of the methods used and the interpretation of the results in these, and other, studies of intelligence (link).

Given the above, some are concluding that appropriate cognitive training may help in changing the way the religious think (link). Seems like support for the teaching of critical thinking skills to me. Albert Einstein agreed: 

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."