Well Done! It has occurred to me lately that the “critical thinking deficit” has a somewhat different presentation in those--like me!--who are in a more mature age group. For myself, I had an unraveling at twenty-- but then again at 55. When we first met, I too was at the stage of assessing the pile of yarn and in the throes of creating something new. In a far too delayed fashion--I am a very slow pilgrim--I discovered what I had presumed my solid critical thinking skills had atrophied. This was particularly hard to accept. I recently have had occasion to spend time with some very successful men in my “age class” and unlike your children who don’t know what they don’t know, the difficulty in this group has been an incipient move to a binary right/wrong consideration in the name of “critical thinking.” A mode of thinking hard to give up. As you so nicely illustrate, a necessary, but not sufficient way of seeing the world. I would suppose this was why Lewis viewed pride as the worst of sins. A view with which I must reluctantly concur.
David, this is fascinating. Thanks for sharing. I, too, am a slow pilgrim. It does seem like people default to binary thinking on "both sides" of the political spectrum, which is particularly ironic from people decrying "fundamentalism."
This is a great podcast about how the generation ahead of me has navigated a post-Trump world.
I am FLOORED. Just last night I was considering how oversaturated I am with the flurry of thoughts and ideas we are each presented with in the age of information. Between calls to action, jarring sociological shifts, and an endless stream of entertainment...I'm not sure where to properly divide my attention. What actually matters, and how much of myself am I convicted to lending whatever respective ideas and causes feel worthy?
It reminds me so much of what Dr. Bruce Perry discusses in "What Happened to You?" regarding technology outpacing our brain's ability to adapt healthfully. Megan Garber's brilliant piece in THE ATLANTIC: "We're Already Living in the Metaverse" also comes to mind. Entertainment has served as both a necessary relief, and a crippling distraction during these critical periods.
I wove together an answer (in the form of another question) to my stress last night as this: what stories *truly* matter in a world that continually generates new iterations of the same implied answer ("everything does")? When I thought about the process of figuring those out, I had the same visual. I must allow myself to unravel, so that I may stitch myself back together. I'm deeply comforted that this is not an isolated feeling and that in our collective pool of yarn, there are some threads worth all of the existential anxiety.
I was saving this to read when I had free time because I knew I would need to think. It’s good, very good! I will be rereading it later! Merry Christmas!
I don’t know how I missed this! I think with my kids it’s just a state of mind that mostly manifests as question asking. The hard part is making sure my questions sound truly curious (Why do you think that kid might have been mean to you on the playground? Can you think of what might put you in a similarly bad mood?) as opposed to pointed (there’s a lesson here I’m trying to get across but I’ve *posed* it as a question). I don’t want to raise kids who just parrot my criticisms… I want them to come up with their own.
Well Done! It has occurred to me lately that the “critical thinking deficit” has a somewhat different presentation in those--like me!--who are in a more mature age group. For myself, I had an unraveling at twenty-- but then again at 55. When we first met, I too was at the stage of assessing the pile of yarn and in the throes of creating something new. In a far too delayed fashion--I am a very slow pilgrim--I discovered what I had presumed my solid critical thinking skills had atrophied. This was particularly hard to accept. I recently have had occasion to spend time with some very successful men in my “age class” and unlike your children who don’t know what they don’t know, the difficulty in this group has been an incipient move to a binary right/wrong consideration in the name of “critical thinking.” A mode of thinking hard to give up. As you so nicely illustrate, a necessary, but not sufficient way of seeing the world. I would suppose this was why Lewis viewed pride as the worst of sins. A view with which I must reluctantly concur.
David, this is fascinating. Thanks for sharing. I, too, am a slow pilgrim. It does seem like people default to binary thinking on "both sides" of the political spectrum, which is particularly ironic from people decrying "fundamentalism."
This is a great podcast about how the generation ahead of me has navigated a post-Trump world.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baby-boomer-deconstruction-158/id1448000113?i=1000568871042
So good!!
Thanks Tiffany!
I am FLOORED. Just last night I was considering how oversaturated I am with the flurry of thoughts and ideas we are each presented with in the age of information. Between calls to action, jarring sociological shifts, and an endless stream of entertainment...I'm not sure where to properly divide my attention. What actually matters, and how much of myself am I convicted to lending whatever respective ideas and causes feel worthy?
It reminds me so much of what Dr. Bruce Perry discusses in "What Happened to You?" regarding technology outpacing our brain's ability to adapt healthfully. Megan Garber's brilliant piece in THE ATLANTIC: "We're Already Living in the Metaverse" also comes to mind. Entertainment has served as both a necessary relief, and a crippling distraction during these critical periods.
I wove together an answer (in the form of another question) to my stress last night as this: what stories *truly* matter in a world that continually generates new iterations of the same implied answer ("everything does")? When I thought about the process of figuring those out, I had the same visual. I must allow myself to unravel, so that I may stitch myself back together. I'm deeply comforted that this is not an isolated feeling and that in our collective pool of yarn, there are some threads worth all of the existential anxiety.
I was saving this to read when I had free time because I knew I would need to think. It’s good, very good! I will be rereading it later! Merry Christmas!
Hope your Christmas was great. One of these days we need to meet in Atlanta or Greenville with all of you!
And thank you!
I would love to do that!
This was really thought-provoking. What other types of things do you use to teach your kids this skill?
I don’t know how I missed this! I think with my kids it’s just a state of mind that mostly manifests as question asking. The hard part is making sure my questions sound truly curious (Why do you think that kid might have been mean to you on the playground? Can you think of what might put you in a similarly bad mood?) as opposed to pointed (there’s a lesson here I’m trying to get across but I’ve *posed* it as a question). I don’t want to raise kids who just parrot my criticisms… I want them to come up with their own.