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Is nuance a skill?
Like, the world isn't black and white, left and right, right and wrong, etc, but too many people want to simplify complex issues down into binary choices and leave out any trace of nuance.
Maybe related: The ability to understand complete statements and considering the context, instead of latching onto one phrase and ignoring the rest.
We live in a hyperbolic age. People’s attention has been commodified so almost all messaging is exaggerated to pull attention to one pole or another. Nuance and patient, thoughtful debate can’t live in that atmosphere.
Not to mention we're in a period of morality panic. We've been brainwashed to think there are only good and bad, either with us on all thoughts or against. We've been sucked into a hard lined good vs. evil plot, except everyone is wrong.
We're living in a particularly toxic time, and splitting is a reversion
I think that we should require more humanities courses for STEM degrees. I had to take some english courses but that was about it. Seems like a lot of STEM-lords (particularly the computer ones) need to take a cultural anthropology course and chill out a little. Or philosophy but that risks making them worse.
People have said “critical thinking”. I agree, but we can be more specific than that:
- Formal logic to think clearly
- Relational frame training to think fluidly
- Human cognitive bias awareness and mitigation strategies to avoid magical thinking or otherwise systematic cognitive errors
- Discourse Analysis to be critical of any message https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LKiaYBVAEUk&pp=
- Mindfulness and acceptance skills to engage with what our thoughts and body tell us, regardless of whether it’s painful or difficult
- Visible Thinking Routines to make thinking and communication with others easier
- Research design (Joseph A. Maxwell) and system design (How to Design Programs) to seek information critically and how to systematically tackle challenges
This covers so many other things.
My usual specific go-to is how to search the internet for things. But not knowing how to search for hyper-specific things is the symptom of a lack of critical thinking skills.
other things
Interesting. So you're saying that critical thinking is not what I mentioned, but rather it is something different (an "other thing"). What would you say critical thinking is?
Not at all, I'm saying that many smaller problems people often cite are simply symptoms of a lack of critical thinking.
Ah. It sounds as if you’re saying that critical thinking skills are the base of many skills. That’s actually an interesting issue: could you increase skills by skill and end up with someone that is a critical thinker? Or is critical thinking something fundamental that naturally manifests in many different skills?
Yeah, not revolutionary - critical thinking is a skill that's fundamental to so much else. Its like learning to read or cook. The base skill let's your learn more.
Fair enough. If it is fundamental, it affects many things. How do you think it’s best taught or developed? What are the specific activities that you as a teacher or as a student would do to improve it?
Not sure, other than a general combo of "question everything" and understanding the scientific method. I've never had to teach it before.
Critical thinking.
Basic sewing
Also empathy
Using a fucking PC properly.
this post was submitted on 16 May 2025
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