This may be news to many readers of the blog, as I haven’t blogged about skepticism (except perhaps in my post on chiropractic, Herodotus: the father of handiwork) but I am a longtime skeptic. (Brian Dunning’s concise statement, What is Skepticism?, will give you a good idea of what I mean when I use the term.)
For my money, the one thing students need above all else is the ability to develop critical thinking skills, which encompasses such things as knowing how to assess information and being aware of common pitfalls to understanding (e.g., logical fallacies, emotional appeals, etc.). Too often my own students show a willingness to believe whatever I tell them, a tendency I exploit on a regular basis with humor in an effort to promote more critical thinking.
I don’t want to say much more right now, though I’m sure my position will be clear in the poll options below, but I’m interested to hear from others on the issue of critical thinking in the humanities, its relationship with the sciences, and potentially those in the humanities who are sympathetic to or interested in the skeptical viewpoint.
So without further ado, my (admittedly) awkward poll:
Results after the fold.
Your thoughts remind me of Holt Parker’s ‘Sappho Schoolmistress’ article (TAPA, 1993. Wish I could link to it somehow…). I think it demonstrates very convincingly the need to apply critical thinking in the humanities, rather than blindly trusting the potentially biased conjectures of others.
Well if you only ask people with backgrounds in the humanities…
I was surprised at how opposite my reactions were from those already collected.
The poll isn’t just for people with a background in the humanities, but I’d like to know how many of those who respond fit that bill.
The poll is admittedly awkward and unscientific, but what I’m after right now is a rough impression of a topic that I’m not sure many other people care about and few discuss.