I quote from one of my favorite authors, Jamie Whyte:
Alas, most know next to nothing about the ways reasoning can go wrong. Schools and universities pack their minds with invaluable pieces of information—about the nitrogen cycle, the causes of World War II, iambic pentameter, and trigonometry—but leave them incapable of identifying even basic errors of logic. Which makes for a nation of suckers, unable to resist the bogus reasoning of those who want something from them, such as votes or money or devotion.
Perhaps I’m naive, but I think the problem can be alleviated by making the introductory logic course a requirement for all students. Such a course could include elements such as formal logic, inductive reasoning, or more specifically, how the scientific method is practiced. Perhaps it could even include some simple psychology so students can learn about our inherent biases in cognition, and then some statistics so they can learn about how data can elucidate the truth. Does this sound too ambitious?
I know this is was posted a long time ago, but I just want to note that when I took an introductory logic course in college, nearly every student came out of it thinking that introductory logic courses should be required at the high school level, if not earlier. It didn’t include basic psychology or statistics, but an introduction to formal logic and the basics of inductive reasoning was still enough to transform the thought processes of most of the students who went through it.
I quote from one of my favorite authors, Jamie Whyte:
Perhaps I’m naive, but I think the problem can be alleviated by making the introductory logic course a requirement for all students. Such a course could include elements such as formal logic, inductive reasoning, or more specifically, how the scientific method is practiced. Perhaps it could even include some simple psychology so students can learn about our inherent biases in cognition, and then some statistics so they can learn about how data can elucidate the truth. Does this sound too ambitious?
I know this is was posted a long time ago, but I just want to note that when I took an introductory logic course in college, nearly every student came out of it thinking that introductory logic courses should be required at the high school level, if not earlier. It didn’t include basic psychology or statistics, but an introduction to formal logic and the basics of inductive reasoning was still enough to transform the thought processes of most of the students who went through it.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Spend time provoking students into thinking. Spend time checking out if the idea stuck. Discuss.
Adding another course? Cookie-cutter solutions brought us here, more of it won’t change much.