Critical thinking is a methodology of thinking clearly and logically. The internet is awash with uncritical and emotional thinking, an example group, so-called Truthers, who find evidence to fit their beliefs, in the form of unverified, unthinking tirades or (thankfully), through the art of bad Photoshopping and contributing images of unbelievably poor quality to fit their flawed hypothesis or conclusion. So you might think an lesson to teach people to think critically, to reject poor quality polemics would be a useful way to get students to recognise myths and disinformation and to tackle controversial beliefs for themselves. But a school in the US has been condemned for doing just that by apparent non-critical thinkers whom have appealed to the emotions and successfully had this particular subject withdrawn. Is the Holocaust a hoax? (My disclosure: I believe the Holocaust happened.) And that a student in an appropriate academic setting could easily have any counter proposal demolished by a competent teacher or lecturer. Nevertheless, protest was made by several groups - including tolerance groups(!) who call the ethics of the school into question. Does that mean that controversial subjects that anyone can find on the net, should not be discussed and challenged in schools and colleges? That some subjects are too sensitive to be CRITICALLY discussed and therefore, be censored? And is that a good thing? news.sky/story/1257643/holocaust-hoax-essay-horribly-inappropriate
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 20:33:06 +0000