From: Robin Hanson (hanson@hss.caltech.edu)
Date: Thu Jun 05 1997 - 11:31:59 MDT
mlbowli1@cord.iupui.edu writes:
>I just a few days ago grabbed some books on logic ... The very basics
>of rational thought, as far as I can tell now, are fairly simple to
>grasp, and provide a substantial leap forward in critical thinking
>skills. Considering this and the fact that rational thinking is so
>crucial, I'm floored by the fact that I'm 26 and having to go out of
>my way to learn it. ... Bill Clinton wants to ensure every school
>kid has access to the Internet. Never mind the fact that without
>rational thinking skills they'll never be able to distinguish noise
>from valuable information.
I quite agree regarding the value of critical thinking skills. But
note that logic is only the first of such skills to learn. Next is
statistics (esp. Bayesian stat.). And then game theory. And you
can't really have good critical skills without learning the equivalent
of an intro course in 20 major subjects.
I've met very few people who have such full critical thinking skills,
and I very much respect such people.
Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/
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