Thinking Well Is Hard?
Oh, please . . .
“Ommm… Ommm… Stay positive, don’t let them drag you down into negativity.”
That’s what I have to say to myself because a recent e-mail miffed me.
The e-mail started with “thinking well is hard” and proceeded with wall-to-wall negativity about how people are “wired” to not think and instead are biased and need help. The purpose of the e-mail spinning this yarn is, unsurprisingly, to get you to click over to some site that will save you from your hopelessly biased self and tell you how to think because it’s so hard.
Also unsurprisingly, the site to which the clickbait e-mail referred contained no information about philosophy or logic and no meaningful encouragement toward independent thinking. The site’s encouragement came in the form of exhortations to not trust yourself but trust them instead. They will tell you how to think. It’s too hard for you, you know.
Same Old Playbook
I’ve seen this basic marketing messages before. As someone who teaches students to think critically for a living, it’s a never-ending disappointment to see yet again another cock-and-bull story about how people can’t and/or shouldn’t think for themselves. I’ve written about this topic several times before (links at the end of the article).
