Help Your Kid Avoid Boo-Boos in Thinking
There’s a myth floating around out there that in philosophy, there are no right or wrong answers. It’s understandable, but not quite accurate. Free thinking isn’t just a free-for-all. There are rules for good thinking, and there are things to avoid. It may be true that there isn’t just one right or wrong answer, but there are definitely some that are better than others, and these are the ones that have no (or at least fewer) mistakes in logic.
We call these mistakes logical fallacies, and to make a long story short, they’re just bumps we tend to hit on the road to good thinking skills. There are lots and lots of different kinds, with fancy names like “ad hominem”, “straw man” “slippery slope”, and many others, each outlining a different way we can stumble in our thinking. Generally speaking, though, if you want your kid to avoid these boo-boos, there are a couple of big questions they should be asking:
Am I getting enough information to think things through?
o Are there any key explanations or facts that are missing or left out?
o Are there any perspectives that haven’t been considered?
2. Is all the information I’m getting actually correct?
o Am I getting distracted from what’s important?
o Is the information incorrect by accident, or on purpose?
o How do we know what’s correct and incorrect? How do we check?
If they can cover these questions, they’re at least off to a great start. Thinkers also need to remember that in many cases, working through big questions properly isn’t a “one and done” kind of practice. The same ones will need revisiting over and over again, and they should always be on the lookout for new perspectives and information. There’s no pressure to figure everything out on the first try, and that’s a wonderful thing.
A useful way to think about effective thinking is being like testing out ideas and information the way an engineer would test out a new invention. Yes, we’re looking for flaws, bits of information or arguments that are broken and in need of fixing, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the way we learn to think better. Believe it or not, it can be a fun challenge to puzzle over better ways of putting together and communicating our ideas. Kids are surprisingly good at this, and are quite often unafraid to speak up and get creative.
Happy thinking!
