Critical Thinking

"I believe in human stupidity (my own included!) so fervently that I want to shout it out to the world. Look at history. Hell, look at the evening news. We’re surrounded by evidence of our folly, and yet all we do is congratulate ourselves all the time. Our kids spend two decades being educated, and nowhere – nowhere – are they taught anything about themselves, about the cognitive shortcomings that will lead to their divorces and their addictions, to their prejudices and their self-serving delusions. They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers.

I actually have a bad habit, which I’m sure has alienated many an acquaintance. Whenever someone tells me they’re a critical thinker – and let’s face it, everyone but everyone thinks they’re a critical thinker – I always ask them “How so?” Usually the answer is that they don’t believe everything everyone tells them. They make fun of Mormons, distrust corporations, or disagree with Fox news or some such. But when I point out that no one believes everything everyone tells them, so that can’t be a criterion for being a critical thinker, they get freaked out.

You get lots of valuable procedural knowledge in school, as well as a smattering of dogma, but nowhere – not even in most philosophy programs – are you taught how to think critically. We are hardwired to bullshit ourselves, and that’s a bloody fact Jack. And what are you taught? What does our system drum into your head at every bloody turn?

To believe in yourself! Believe in yourself when all the research shows that you are in fact the least credible person in the room. Though it seems the other way around, we’re actually much better at critiquing the claims and predicting the behaviour of others than we are ourselves. Check out David Dunning’s Self-Insight if you don’t believe me.

Ignorance is invisible, and so long as we remain ignorant of our cognitive shortcomings we will be slaves to them, we will be condemned to repeat all the same mistakes over and over, only with toys and tools that grow ever more powerful."

R. Scott Bakker, excerpt from an interview

Bakker is the author of the "Prince of Nothing" (PoN) fantasy fiction series. Though he's relatively new on the fantasy scene, he's easily one of the best in my opinion. His style is unique amongst fantasy authors because the actual "action", interesting as it is, takes somewhat of a back seat to the philosophical ponderings of the various characters and intricate analyses of their thought processes. The PoN books critically examine weighy issues such as religion, faith, cosmology and human interactions.

Anyway, looking at this particular excerpt, I love the way in which he states his point upfront ("I believe in human stupidity"), then goes on to expound on his argument with clear examples and drives home his point with an ever more powerful re-assertion of the originally stated point. I know that it sounds pretty simple, but try doing it yourself, it is much easier said than done.

The actual issues Bakker raises are also worth considering, particularly the shortcomings of the modern education systems in place around the world today. We are very good at teaching each other technical skills, but very poor at even recognizing the lack of critical thinking and honest self-appraisal in our curriculums. Like Scott says, "They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers". I especially love the paragraph about the so-called critical thinker acquaintances that Bakker has alienated through his simple but incisive questioning.

The rest of the interview covers various other topics and is well worth a read if you're at all interested in the things already mentioned above...