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0 pointsvkou6y ago0 comments

> Unfortunately, we don't really know how to do this. Longitudinal studies of critical thinking skills across 4 years of college show a modest improvement but there are caveats [1]. For one, the usual courses you'd expect to improve critical thinking (logic, philosophy, statistics) don't do very well.

That's because low-level philosophy courses are taught as history courses. Memorize what each great thinker who died hundreds of years ago thought, regurgitate it in essay format.

Statistics is taught as an arithmetic course. You are given four numbers, figure out which formula you should use to transform them into an answer.

Unsurprisingly, neither of them develops critical thinking skills.

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chongli6y ago

Memorize what each great thinker who died hundreds of years ago thought, regurgitate it in essay format

I've taken 3 undergrad philosophy courses so far, all at second year level, and none of them were as you described. If you did that on your essays, you'd get a very low grade.

All of the essays I've had to write were critical essays. Believe me, it is NOT EASY to come up with a new counter-argument to a famous philosophical position that's already been poked at for centuries.

Have I developed critical thinking skills from taking these courses? I don't know. I take the courses because they're fun and interesting. I love getting into intense discussions with my classmates.

mistermann6y ago

Were your fellow classmates at the same level as you though? There's philosophy as it should be, and then there's philosophy as it is.

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