A Call to Right Thinking: Critical thinking skills are the cure for this crisis

Fascinating commentary. Now, have a question, if you don't mind ...

"Intently seeks truth, and can recognize and reject propaganda and manipulation..."
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Given my background, would you define or give me an example of "truth" in the context in which you have used the word? May sound odd, but I want to make sure I am tracking with you.

Good question. The point I'm trying to make about "truth" is to go beyond the very superficial level at which almost all public discourse is now conducted. Think "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Instead of accepting bald assertions, we need to demand the supporting evidence that is required to make a correct judgment. For practically any news story, it's easy to rattle off a list of 10-20 important questions that you might wish to be answered, in order to understand the issue or form an opinion. But they will *never* be answered--not by any mainstream reporter, channel, or forum. Ever. So the public remains eternally confused, with nothing but shouting heads' contradictory soundbites ringing in their ears. For any issue we need the *correct* facts, *all* the facts, and the *historical context* of the facts. We also need to recognize and challenge common techniques of avoidance, generalizations, fallacious logic, etc. All of which is VERY hard to find in our soundbite culture. I guess I dream of a hybrid of Fox News, NPR, and a 20/20-investigative reports kind of thing.

Clearly you are more learned and intelligent than me. That said, I agree that we each bring unique gifts to the table. So please allow me to paraphrase what you have written, both in your response and your article, in language with which I am more familiar ... (no laughing - tic).

In general, we in the U.S. do not demand a thorough discussion of any given issue. Rather we depend upon "hearing" sound bites, not "listening" to what is being said. We often do not recognize generalizations, deletions, distortions and contradictions because we hear, we don't listen. In addition, we tend not take into account that all important matter -- context. Finally, we do not often analyze our own thinking processes.

Am I tracking with you? Or have I missed the bus? Be candid. You won't offend me. I don't take this personally. Though I may be a bit older than you, I enjoy learning.

You are 100% on track. Read my latest post for an example about interpreting statistics.