[SavantIdiot]

Critical thinking is just plain HARD.

Let's face it, it is lacking as much on HN as it is on any social media site. That's because it requires a Vulcan-like lack of emotional investment in an opinion or worse, a belief.

Critical thinking requires dissociation, detatchment from the subject, and a lots and lots of research from varied sources. Not just a few websites, but actual focus with the intent to accept an answer that goes against the current opinion or belief.

This idea of "teaching critical thinking to kids" is valuable, but I think grossly underestimated in difficulty. Especially when parents have a vested interest in NOT raising kids to think this way.

[titzer]

I think critical thinking isn't that hard, unless it comes up against someone's sense of self or value because they've invested a lot in a belief. Maybe Vulcan emotional detachment isn't the answer (it might be even be part of the problem in some circumstances, since Vulcans invest so much sense of worth into their own logic). Rather, I think humility and a sense of wonder and joy about finding things out. Think of kids! When kids are excited to learn they have absolutely no problem finding out what works and what doesn't. They haven't invested their whole egos into something yet. They just got here, after all. We shouldn't be overly critical of kids and expect performance out of them at every turn. It kind of....crushes them little by little.

I wanna be a kid again. It's fun. Instead of "oh man, I f'd up here, I hope no one finds out..." it's "whoops, that didn't work, let's try something else!"

[denton-scratch]

> Critical thinking is just plain HARD.

I don't think so; but it does require training. If you graduate with a batchelor's degree, you're supposed to have demonstrated at least some skill in critical reasoning. Secondary school/high school, not so much.

Once you have the skill, it can become a habit; obsessive, even, the "default mode", easier than falling off a log. I find that I increasingly question everthing I'm told. Is this pundit incentivised to lie to me? Does what he's telling me even make sense? What about the things I tell myself? Am I deceiving myself? Do my own beliefs make sense? (Many of them don't, and I've had to make more than one jarring course-correction in my life)

[BlueTemplar]

> Vulcan-like lack of emotional investment

Using a weird pop culture cliché probably hinders you here ?

I would say what needs to be trained is instead emotional investment (this is probably redundant : no investment without at least former emotions ?) into trying to figure out the/a truth. For instance being bothered when some propositions seem to conflict each other.

And at least a bare minimum of investment into your beliefs is kind of required (though I guess that this is already what differentiates them from opinions ?), other way lies insanity.