Is critical thinking a dying art? [View All]

[Stinky The Clown]

The last few months have shown this to be a real possibility. There has been a great deal of knee jerk reaction. But there always is. Except these days the knee jerk seems to have an added component, a secret ingredient: Quick Set Mind Closer.

It used to be that people formed opinions and then kept an open mind. Opinions evolved and changed. New facts came to light and that influenced opinion. Indeed, other opinions were expressed and minds considered the new opinion, rejecting it, adopting it, or further modifying it.

All after some critical thinking.

I don't see much of that anymore.

I see the same opinions rooted in knee jerk reaction flogged endlessly. Things get reduced to their most elemental. Opposing ideas are no longer heard and considered. They're just rejected out of hand in the most dismissive, vitriolic, overheated fashion possible.

Reason has been replaced with volume. Debate has morphed into push back.

"If I am louder, I am righter."

And the loudest seem to become the opinion leaders. Not for reason, but simply for volume. Bleat the loudest and the sheep will follow.

Similarly, ossified opinion makes it easy to ascribe motive. When A or B or C or D happens, it is *always* because of Z. Never mind that it may actually have been because of Y or Q or S. Conventional wisdom (ossified opinion, virtually by definition) holds that is is always because of Z and therefor it always is.

Except it isn't. But no one seems to care anymore. Or even worse, someone attempts to show that it is really because of L, but since L doesn't fit conventional wisdom (ossified opinion, virtually by definition), the person pointing it out is deemed wrong and stoned in the square of public opinion. Or shunned.

Mob mentality.

Group think.

Lock step.

Gang loyalty.

Simplification.

Blind acceptance.

Ossified thinking.

This isn't aimed at any one group or posse.

I am gone for the rest of the day. Have fun playing with my thoughts and telling me how I should think.

Or why I should respect non thinking.