Last week I watched Climate: The Movie - a relatively balanced, insightful look at the history of ‘the climate’, and also the hysteria that manifests around the topic - and the misleading information from certain factions. Overall I thought it came across as fairly well researched and sensible.
It was very quickly dismissed as ‘concocting a grand, conspiratorial fallacy’ and ‘the ultimate aim of Climate the Movie, it seems, is simply to troll the left’. Now, as soon as the conspiracy theory phrase is uttered, it’s a sure fire way to dismiss something. YouTube took it down - and then put a context / misinformation panel under any other posts appearing. Censoring information and not letting people make up their own minds.
While I was observing the fallout from this, elsewhere, in creative circles - another censorship was happening - but this time, it was the ‘correct’ kind of censorship to protest, and so it gained traction.
An exhibition of various vinyl sleeves - depicting a range of tracks visualised by a number of artists. One in particular, created by Wilfrid Wood - a sculptor, has been rejected on the grounds that Paul McCartney and his team deemed the rendition “too unflattering”, the sculptor and artist says.
The outrage was fascinating - with people rushing to the defence of ‘freedom of expression’ - some stating ‘editorial cartoonists have been doing this for centuries - why are we outraged?’
Bob Moran was certainly not supported recently when he similarly portrayed well-known faces in an unflattering light, to make a statement about the very hypocrisy we often see in the two examples above.
To be able to see things from all angles, to have a range of information across a spectrum of opinions - and to see people who are held in far too much esteem brought down and mocked or shown to not always be as altruistic as they portray, is a necessity in today’s society.
Otherwise we become nodding dogs with little thought processes of our own.
I then found this article,
which dismisses those who want to think about different narratives and opinions that aren’t the state-approved ones as just going with ‘gut feelings’. Just airy fairy nonsense, with no substance and so proves all conspiracy theories are ridiculous.
Hmmmm.
I would say both types of thinking are worth adopting. Sometimes in a situation you have to rely on your intuition as there’s no time to think logically, and then equally, other times when you have space to consider something and make informed choices.
This idea that only one ‘side’ can be correct - with their values, ‘forensic’ analysing and trusting of very specific agendas, and notions of morality, while anything that is outside this is wrong and should be cancelled is ridiculous. As we know. We need to encourage our young people to make up their own minds - using both critical and intuitive thinking where relevant.
So how do we instill critical thinking in our children?
Encourage Questions: Encourage young people to ask questions and explore multiple perspectives. Foster inquisitiveness and a willingness to challenge assumptions.
Teach Problem-Solving Strategies: Introduce various problem-solving techniques like brainstorming, mind mapping, and decision trees. Guide children through real-life scenarios where critical thinking is necessary.
Practice Analysing Information: Provide opportunities for young people to analyse information critically. This can involve examining articles, advertisements, or data sets and discussing their credibility, biases, and implications. Ensure there is a range, and not all coming from the same ‘side’ or tribe.
Promote Discussion and Debate: Encourage debate and discussion. Present controversial topics and guide them through analysing arguments, supporting evidence, and logical fallacies.
Use Socratic Questioning: Incorporate Socratic questioning techniques to guide students in exploring ideas deeply and uncovering underlying assumptions.
Provide Feedback: Offer constructive feedback on their
reasoning processes and arguments. Encourage them to revise and refine their thinking based on feedback.
Integrate Across Subjects: Incorporate critical thinking skills into various subjects, such as science, history, and literature. Show how critical thinking is relevant across disciplines.
Model Critical Thinking: Model critical thinking in your own interactions and decision-making processes. Share examples of how you apply critical thinking in your own life or examples from family and neighbours.
Encourage Creativity: Critical thinking and creativity go hand in hand. Encourage students to think outside the box and generate innovative solutions to problems.
How do we instill intuitive thinking?
Practise solving different types of problems regularly.
Encourage exploring creative outcomes
Provide open-ended tasks and challenges - provide a writing prompt for example, that then allows for exploring imagination and storytelling. Create land art using materials found while out walking in a wood or on a beach.
Use role-playing to imagine what they would do in certain situations.
I always think this is a great parable to help understand why questioning and thinking is so important.
Finally - spring feels like it is now emerging…and with that comes Easter holidays and more time outside. Here are some activities to try out with your kids and get them thinking creatively.
Mason Jar Terrarium - no garden needed!
Garden Gnome Plant Markers - or think of other characters that can be created
Have a lovely Easter break - I will see you back here next week. Thank you once again for reading 😊