A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

In his book, Strong Religion, Gabriel Almond (plus authors) makes a case for the idea that when a society is going through seismic shifts that feel unnerving, the tendency is to double down on the past and black-and-white thinking. Many times we adopt a fundamentalist spirit, whether or not, we are religious.

Hallmarks of Fundamentalism

The hallmarks of that fundamentalism are a rejection of the threatening new ideas or technologies, and a desire to return to familiar ones that make a person feel safe and secure.

Black-and-white thinking leads to suspicion which creates in and out groups. Problem-solving to account for a variety of needs goes out the window.

In the homeschool space, sometimes we fall prey to fundamentalist thinking about education—who qualifies as a true homeschooler or we eye other educational spaces or philosophies with suspicion.

Critical thinking starts with curiosity and a willingness to dissent. It also expands to include uncomfortable perspectives in an attempt to learn from them. It means not having the comfort of certainty but the relief of having your own thoughts—even ones that don’t fit neatly into your group.

I know I’m in my black-and-white mind when I’m smug, flippant, and stop being curious about what makes someone else tick. I know I’m thinking better when I pause to wonder—why, how, what was it like for _____, what don’t I know about this?

This post was originally shared on Instagram.
Watch the accompanying reel for more.

Let’s talk about how to think critically when we find someone else’s viewpoint irrational.

Naturally how we define terms, the way we understand the difference between community values and individual rights is going to shape how we evaluate anyone’s opinion or perspective. I’m not saying that we can’t call out what we see as fundamentally immoral.

But persuasion out of a view that feels comfortable and natural to another person doesn’t come from one of us simply telling that person they are wrong.

Critical thinking is…

To me, critical thinking is not so much about getting it right and then trying to convince others. That’s a conversion mindset that rarely works. Instead, Critical Thinking is about understanding the logic that any individual or community applies to their viewpoint, even when we think that person or group is being illogical.

Every person thinks their viewpoint makes justifiable sense. Every. Single. One. Our job as thinkers is to discover that logic—to understand better and to allow that understanding to be a part of our solution-making.

Watch the Accompanying Video

In his book, Strong Religion, Gabriel Almond (plus authors) makes a case for the idea that when a society is going through seismic shifts that feel unnerving, the tendency is to double down on the past and black-and-white thinking. Many times we adopt a fundamentalist spirit, whether or not, we are religious.

The hallmarks of that fundamentalism are:

1. a rejection of the threatening new ideas or technologies,
2. and a desire to return to familiar ones that make a person feel safe and secure.

Black-and-white thinking leads to suspicion which creates in and out groups. Problem-solving to account for a variety of needs goes out the window.

How does this relate to home education?

In the homeschool space, sometimes we fall prey to fundamentalist thinking about education—who qualifies as a true homeschooler or we eye other educational spaces or philosophies with suspicion.

Critical thinking starts with curiosity and a willingness to dissent. It also expands to include uncomfortable perspectives in an attempt to learn from them. It means not having the comfort of certainty but the relief of having your own thoughts—even ones that don’t fit neatly into your group.

I know I’m in my black-and-white mind when I’m smug, flippant, and stop being curious about what makes someone else tick. I know I’m thinking better when I pause to wonder—why, how, what was it like for _____, and what don’t I know about this?

For more, watch the accompanying video.

Also, my book Raising Critical Thinkers offers tools to get out of black-and-white thinking.

Have you noticed that some people think they’re expressing facts when really they’re telling you a story about a fact?

Facts matter, but it’s what we say about them that determines how we think. Sometimes the stories we tell become so powerful, we adopt beliefs that undermine the fact itself. I’ve watched people use the same fact to prove entirely opposing ideas or beliefs.

Self-Awareness

That’s why I like to remind everyone that critical thinking starts with self-awareness. We can notice the way our own desire to be right or to fit into our communities or to know more than someone else undermines our ability to learn or have our assumptions challenged. We might even reject a fact just because it conflicts with what our community expects us to believe.

My workbook BECOMING A CRITICAL THINKER teaches your 12-18 year olds how to hold a bias while examining uncomfortable views. It gives them direct experience with examining their assumptions and exploring the ideas and beliefs of people who see the world differently. They will have tools that help them identify scams and charlatans.

Let’s raise a generation of kids who don’t get sucked into black-and-white, antagonistic thinking! Teach them to think for themselves and to think well!