[net.kids] teaching HOW to think

lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (12/03/84)

Warren Montgomery posted an article to net.origins (and net.politics)
commenting that creationism was by no means the only controversial topic
liable to one-sided treatment in the schools. He closed with the remark:

	My advice to parents is to focus on teaching people HOW to
	think, not WHAT to think.

This may be a quibble, but I have trouble with the idea of "teaching how
to think". I feel it's more a matter of encouraging kids (to narrow the focus
slightly) to think on their own, and letting them discover their own technique.

The following incident gave me some evidence that I was doing this
successfully with my own kids (WARNING: CUTE STORY FOLLOWS)

When my son Max was four, he asked me to find his pacifier at bedtime.
(No pacifier flames please - he gave it up on his own in due time)
I was looking around the bed for it, and I asked Max, "Did it fall
down along the wall?"  I could recognize my own advice coming back at
me when he responded in a thoughtful tone, "Well ... what do you think?"

		Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew

rwh@aesat.UUCP (Russell Herman) (12/09/84)

There are advocates of teaching the ability to think. Edward de Bono
springs to mind as the best-known example. Any others? Anyone adapting
their concepts to software? Anyone have any experience with their methods?
-- 
  ______			Russ Herman
 /      \			{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!rwh
@( ?  ? )@			
 (  ||  )			The opinions above are strictly personal, and 
 ( \__/ )			do not reflect those of my employer (or even
  \____/			possibly myself an hour from now.)