What is your Opinion on Having Required Classes in Logic in Schools?

[Regina]

I think it's essential

It's not just about religion, we're fed lies by the media and by other people pretty much every day. Critical thinking and being able to form your own opinion rather than taking everything as fact is a key life skill. It's so valuable and should be taught to people. Not sure about what age group it's most appropriate for but it should happen at some point.

[Jenny A]

Absolutely. Maybe not in elementary but anytime after (if they can handle science they can handle logic/reason/......). Have to be an elective, some want to go through life being told what to believe (ignorance is bliss). If an elective the religious can opt out.

(emphasis is mine)

They teach science in elementary school.

Sort of.  They teach science knowledge in elementary school, not method or at least that's been my experience.  There's a vast difference in thinking between learning to identify plants, or describe an ecosystem compared with learning how science is done.

[KevinM1]

For formal, non-arithmetic logic, I say yes, as a part of high school. The two most important classes I ever had were:

Propaganda and Persuasion
Introduction to Formal Logic

At UNH. Classes specifically designed to cut through bullshit and lazy, if attractive, appeals while also showing how to form a logical argument.

[Ravenshire]

(emphasis is mine)

They teach science in elementary school.

Sort of.  They teach science knowledge in elementary school, not method or at least that's been my experience.  There's a vast difference in thinking between learning to identify plants, or describe an ecosystem compared with learning how science is done.

Both my kids learned the basics of method in elementary, as did I when I was that age.

[robvalue]

I'm so obsessed with logic that I make shrines to it. But even I realized my reasoning was lacking certain heavy weaponry when I got into the serious business of counter-apologetics a couple of years ago. That's not cool. If I'm under armed, you can bet most people would benefit.

I'm not trying to be cruel, but some people seem to genuinely not be able to grasp certain logical fallacies. I feel like I might as well be talking in hieroglyphics. I can only guess that a life of using not-quite-right logic has made progress too difficult. This crap needs sorting out!

[Silver]

I am so obsessed with logic, that those with whom I work wonder why I seem insane compared to them.

[Salacious B. Crumb]

I'm so obsessed with logic that I make shrines to it. But even I realized my reasoning was lacking certain heavy weaponry when I got into the serious business of counter-apologetics a couple of years ago. That's not cool. If I'm under armed, you can bet most people would benefit.

I'm not trying to be cruel, but some people seem to genuinely not be able to grasp certain logical fallacies. I feel like I might as well be talking in hieroglyphics. I can only guess that a life of using not-quite-right logic has made progress too difficult. This crap needs sorting out!

Honestly, I'm still learning fallacies. I'm able to spot them a mile away now, because of all the time I spent on here. I'm able to recognize some, but I don't know all of them by name yet. I love the way you have them laid out on your website, I've learned a few off of it.

[robvalue]

Thanks very much!

I hoped my guide would be user friendly, a way of looking for the phrasing to identify the fallacy. I'm glad it's helped you!

They don't line up quite right on iPad for some reason, and I don't know how to correct that with my software. I have mobile and full view only, and the iPad seems to be a slight distortion of the full version that I can't control. But hopefully it's still obvious which is which. Considering the software is free, I can't grumble!

[Jenny A]

Sort of.  They teach science knowledge in elementary school, not method or at least that's been my experience.  There's a vast difference in thinking between learning to identify plants, or describe an ecosystem compared with learning how science is done.

Both my kids learned the basics of method in elementary, as did I when I was that age.

That's good to hear.

[Pyrrho]

For formal, non-arithmetic logic, I say yes, as a part of high school.  The two most important classes I ever had were:

Propaganda and Persuasion
Introduction to Formal Logic

At UNH.  Classes specifically designed to cut through bullshit and lazy, if attractive, appeals while also showing how to form a logical argument.

One of the things that struck me when I took Introduction to Logic was how difficult many students found the class to be.  The teacher was extremely patient and gave excellent examples, but some people did not seem to understand even after repeated explanations and multiple examples.  It is frightening how poorly many people reason.

I think it might be better to teach them earlier, before they become set in bad habits of thinking.  From talking with the logic teacher later, he seemed to think the same thing, as he had previously been a teacher of much younger students (perhaps late grade school?  I do not precisely remember).  And when he taught the younger students, he snuck in some critical thinking and logic, and he said, on average, they seemed to learn it easier than his college students.


A bit off topic, but another disturbing class was sex education in high school.  I remember being shocked at some of the misinformation that some classmates believed (e.g., the silly idea that you can't get pregnant the first time, you can just tell by looking at someone if they have VD, etc.).  When people make important decisions in life based on misinformation and faulty reasoning, it is no wonder that so many people screw up so many things in their lives.