Rockefeller: The Source Of The USA's Education Problems?

"The American educational system, a cornerstone of societal development, has undergone numerous transformations over the years. One influential figure in shaping the landscape of education was John D. Rockefeller, a name often associated with wealth and industrial prowess. However, as I delve into the annals of history, a disconcerting truth emerges — one that raises questions about the true motives behind Rockefeller’s educational endeavors."

Click here, and on the link below, for an enlightening view of a basic problem with USA education.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1412003936836149

If you think that there is no problem with US education after partaking of the above, the link below will help you to understand how sheepish humans are without critical thinking skills:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=wwXIfr&v=630867306389189&rdid=ERcLkK6IRiEJmNYq

Attacking Misinformation With Exposure To It

"Misinformation and logical fallacies lurk in almost every corner of social media, so it can be tempting to shield kids entirely. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests that exposure to misinformation in a supervised environment can help kids become more diligent fact-checkers. Banning social media and other digital platforms might not be the best way to equip children with long-term media literacy.

"I will begin an overview of this study and then offer some suggestions of how educators can use controlled online exposure to strengthen students’ critical thinking and digital literacy skills while minimizing the risk of harm."

Click on the link below for the details of this study:

Turning Misinformation Into Education

"Stupid": The Need For Critical Thinking

"Stupidity isn’t just a lack of intelligence—it’s the refusal to think critically, and it’s everywhere. In this video, we dive into The Stupidity Epidemic, exploring why people ignore facts, how social media fuels misinformation, and why Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed stupidity is more dangerous than evil. From blind groupthink to misplaced confidence, we break down how ignorance spreads, why it thrives in positions of power, and what we can do about it. If you've ever wondered why smart people make bad decisions—or why the loudest voices are often the least informed—this video is for you. Let’s talk about it. And if you find this conversation valuable, hit subscribe—it really helps the channel!"

The Stupidity Epidemic: Why Critical Thinking is Dying

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Helping Children Navigate Misinformation

Click here for an article from a great internet source specializing in teaching critical thinking to children.

The USA And Education: It's Not Great

Click here for a brief video that should embarrass the USA (but won't unless or until anti-science thinking is marginalized.

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)

Biden 14th in scholars' presidential rankings, Trump lastBiden 14th in scholars' presidential rankings, Trump lastBiden 14th in scholars' presidential rankings, Trump lastBiden 14th in scholars' presidential rankings, Trump lastBiden 14th in scholars' presidential rankings, Trump last

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)

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

The Value Of Reaching Out To The Other Side

In 2020, 31% of voters identified as Democrats, 25% identified as Republicans, and 41% identified as Independents. If you split the Independents down the middle, with 50% voting for either, the Democrats would always win. But that is not what happens. There are more conservatives than progressives in the Independents, thus, the voting is much closer than what would be reflected in a 50 - 50 split. Most rural voters live by progressive economic principles but tend to vote Republican. Why? Could Democrats aren't talking to the rural folks enough and making some wrong assumptions?

Click on this link for a 6-minute video to better understand that the Democrats need to do some serious leg work within the rural communities of the USA to convince that voting segment that the Democratic Party offers more to them. Seems to me that critical thinking skills need to permeate into opinions formed through indoctrination.

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

Motivated Reasoning

"Human beings are not always—in fact, probably not often—the objective, rational creatures we like to think we are. In the past few decades, psychologists have demonstrated the many ways people deceive themselves in the process of reasoning. Cognitive faculties are a distinguishing feature of humanity—lifting humankind out of caves and enabling language, arts, and sciences. Nevertheless, they are also rooted in and subject to influence, or bias, by emotions and instincts.

"One of the most significant ways information processing and decision-making becomes warped is through motivated reasoning, when biased reasoning leads to a particular conclusion or decision, a process that often occurs outside of conscious awareness."

Click on the link below for more and how to control it:

Motivated Reasoning (Confirmation Bias)

Critical Thinking/Skepticism: Brief But Important Points

What is critical thinking/skepticism and how it is valuable? Click on the links below for some brief and concise videos on such:

This tool will help improve your critical thinking

Skepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter

Why Schools Should Teach Skepticism Above Obedience

Wokeness And Education

Wokeness used to mean a state of being aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality.  It now is another pejorative used by right-wing hate-preachers (link). Click on the link below for an article regarding the proper way of handling questions about it in the classroom:

Homeroom: I'm Concerned About Wokeness At My Child's School

OTHER Countries Are Doing It

"So if we can’t regulate the 'news' or even stop trolls and foreign operatives from inciting Americans, how can we activate the 'immune system' of democracy?"

For as long as I have been out of college I have been actively promoting critical /science-based thinking. I look around me in the USA and it seems that NO organization is doing anything to improve the dismal display of magical thinking and ignorance. Click on the link below for a brief video presenting what OTHER countries are doing to improve the situation:

How Does America Solve Its "Fake News" Crisis?

A Political Lesson From Socrates

"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."

The USA and other representative democracies talk about democracy being superior to more authoritarian political systems. However, Socrates, the founder of philosophy, was skeptical of it in practice. Why? Click on the link below to find out:

Why Socrates Hated Democracy

100 Best Websites for Science Teachers

I add that if one Googles' "Science-Based Thinking" one will also get a trove of information on such:

https://www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/100-best-websites-for-science-teachers/?fbclid=IwAR1oeZk-XnSka41R86WDuXkjlI9jMkUFyHDcJ96eSJJJd3alK2siGG1RLy0

The History Of Public Education

"I don't want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers."
~ John D. Rockefeller

Sadly, the purpose of compulsory public education was not founded on critical thinking and true learning but for training and indoctrination in service to the state and church authority.

I'll take George Carlin's opinion of education: "Children should be taught to ask questions, not to obey." Yes, there is a need for factual learning but without critical thinking also, education is training only. If there ever was a need for the application of science-based thinking, public education is priority one IMHO.

Public Schools, the Fixation of Belief, and Social Control

Insight Into How Atheists Raise Their Children

"How do atheists teach their children? Do atheist parents teach their kids that there is no god? I spoke with two of the directors of Camp Quest Texas, David and Jamye, about how they, as atheist parents and teachers, teach children. We also discuss how we can raise the next generation free of dogma."

How Atheists Teach Their Children

Critical Thinking Can Be Taught

We science-based thinkers/skeptics regularly promote the teaching of critical thinking skills.  However, from a practical standpoint, how do we do it? Because of limited educational resources, it may not be feasible to address the issue with separate classes.

This article shows the promise of effective teaching of critical thinking in humanities classes as part of the usual curricula:

Critical thinking instruction in humanities reduces belief in pseudoscience

 

 (EdTechReview)