As it turns out, leftists regard “critical thinking” about as highly as they regard diversity and inclusion, which is to say, they loathe it even as they claim to value it.
Three months ago, a video of Massachusetts high school teacher and volunteer firefighter Warren Smith teaching a stellar impromptu lesson in “critical thinking” went viral after Elon Musk posted it on X. Central to “critical thinking” is the use of logic to question assumptions, something dogmatic propagandists who self-identify as “educators” hate as much as they hate conservatives.
The student whose voice is heard was invited by Smith to pose a question on any topic of interest. The student asked this question about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling: “She’s had a pretty controversial past. I just want to know, like, what are your thoughts on it, and, like, do you still like her work despite her, uh, bigoted opinions?
Smith, who has his MFA from Emerson College, explicitly stated that he was not going to express his opinion on Rowling but instead “we’re going to treat this as a thought experiment.”
Then through a series of questions posed by Smith regarding assumptions, source of assumptions, terms, and evidence, the student came to the conclusion that he does not view Rowling as bigoted or transphobic.
After the video went viral, Smith appeared on Piers Morgan’s and Dave Rubin’s show, which apparently didn’t sit well with his high school administration. Then about a week ago, without warning, Smith was abruptly fired in a five-minute meeting.
Two days after that, his school offered him a bribe if he agreed to sign a document that would legally prevent him “from ever speaking about what happened.” So much for transparency, diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, and free speech. Fortunately, the courageous Smith declined the bribe.
Smith gets fired for advocating that students be taught how to apply logic when evaluating opinions, a skill that may lead them to reject leftist dogma. Heaven forfend! Meanwhile teachers unions all across the country take very public and controversial positions on very controversial topics. And leftist teachers promote leftist views and values as objective inarguable truths in classrooms and on social media routinely with no repercussions.
Starting at least by freshman year in high school, English teachers should be teaching a primer on logic. Students can’t think critically if they have no understanding of at least common fallacies. I would argue that teaching logic falls more within the legitimate purview of teachers than does teaching leftist theories on cross-sex identification, leftist theories on oppression, and leftist views on sexual practices. Unfortunately, public school teachers have far less expertise in logic than they do in the area of sexual deviance.
The problem is that leftist teachers have no investment in students learning how to spot errors in reasoning. Good logical thinkers can’t be as easily snookered by demagogues and dogmatists as those tutored in the ways of a therapeutic society that values feelings, nothing more than feelings.
In addition, teaching logic would necessitate teachers learning logic themselves, and that’s so hard. It’s much easier to jump on the greased up fast track to higher salaries by getting a master’s degree in education than spending time learning how to think logically or gaining a deeper understanding of English, history, or biology.
Students would be far better served if in order to get salary bumps, teachers had to master logic and get a master’s degree in their discipline. Try that suggestion out at a school board meeting, and watch union members’ tiny heads explode.
The game is rigged against students, against critical thinking, and against teachers like Warren Smith who remarked in a video that not one colleague came alongside him in the difficult months since his video went viral. That’s collegiality in a leftist-controlled place of “learning.”
“Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you’re always afraid.
Step out of line, the men come and take you away.
You better stop. Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look what’s goin’ down.”