POSTED BY MARTIN KICH
We emphasize to our students that critical thinking is not just an advantage but a necessity in our increasingly complex world.
But these sorts of juxtapositions, which have become commonplace online each and every day, really require something much more basic than critical thinking.
In fact, discussing them as if they require critical thinking has elevated them and normalized them, as if they are something much more complex than a straightforward choice between lies and truth.
Although it has often been more aspirational than actual, one of the fundamental American values has been the enduring integrity of our institutions and of those who have been given the responsibility to lead them. And we have accepted that one of the fundamental benefits of education has been the ability to recognize when that integrity is being undermined and betrayed.
An inability to accept that this sort of juxtaposition is jarring at a fundamental level and that the distinctions between lies and truth are often patently obvious surely demonstrates the failure of our educational system as well as of our political system.
But only if it becomes the consensus.
Short of that, it simply suggests that some people need to repeat a few grades.
And this isn’t elitism.
It’s just very basic common sense.
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For an example predating (and presaging) the current crisis, remember Sharpiegate? In September 2019, as Hurricane Dorian approached, Trump tweeted that it would hit Alabama much harder than anticipated. Responding to rising panic, the National Weather Service noted the expert consensus that Alabama would not see any impacts from Dorian, which it didn’t. But Trump maintained he had been correct and produced a weather map doctored with a sharpie marker to support his claim. Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under pressure from the White House, disavowed the statement from the National Weather Service and warned government employees not to contradict the president.
Isn’t it “interesting” (or should I say “expected”?) that the two examples used to justify critical thinking involve Trump and his son-in-law? Why not critical thinking about Democratic misstatements and outright lies? (Need I list them here?)
I’m neither a Trumpist nor a liberal, but a (Karl and Groucho) Marxist who happens to believe in AUTHENTIC Critical Thinking.