How To Think

What’s a thing you wish schools actually taught?

I was a homeschool student.

I know what you’re thinking, it’s the same thing most people think. The gasp of horror. The questions about my ability to socialize (I’m fine, thank you). The curiosity about how I feel about my education, or how hard it must have been for my poor, single mom to teach four kids (it really wasn’t, I swear).

But for years, amongst all students, in all forms of schooling, from 1st graders to college level education, I have seen a disturbing trend: no one is much good at actually thinking.

It’s a problem that has worsened over the past few years, with AI and the downstream effects of a group of students doing school at home, with limited supervision. Not only do they know less, they think less.

“I’ll just look at what ChatGPT has to say about it.” Or “I use AI for everything” have become commonplace. Alternatively, people have started using someone who already knows something as an “easy button” rather than trying to learn how to do something themselves.

There’s a stark lack of curiosity about themselves, about their families, friends, careers, or government. There’s a lot of focus put on games, shows, or political rhetoric, but not a lot of thought.

We aren’t taught how to think, and we aren’t learning how ourselves. We are inundated with facts, yes. Just learn enough to pass the tests and get the job. And then it all goes down the drain, of course. Facts are irrelevant, and forgotten. Things we believed memorized are lost.

It’s not only sad, a generation raised on Kardashians, it’s frightening and dangerous. It leads to impractical ideology, pseudo philosophy, poorly executed scientific investigation.

It allows for a system to build educational programs that emphasize unnecessary skill sets.

Nursing for example, increasingly requires the study of statistics. This is a branch of study that is nearly entirely impractical for a nurse, if not completely impractical, especially at the bachelors degree level. And yet, it is included in a large number of nursing programs for seemingly no reason.

These same nurses leave school having never learned to apply splints to broken bones, how to properly prepare for a chest tube placement, or how to assist a physician with an intubation. They learn (or do not learn) these skills well after their bachelors degree level “education”.

Worse yet, the majority will forget anything they once learned of statistics after passing their course, and be left with very little to show for hours wasted and money badly spent.

My grandfather taught me Grammar and Composition. He was a college level professor, and he derided both the system and the student equally. But he taught me one thing that I have found worth more than gold, stocks, or any other wealth.

“Grammar is the language of logic”, he said “in learning how to write, we learn to organize our thoughts, and through this, our minds.”

If he could see the state of students now, he would likely be appalled. The vision of him turning in his grave is one I can see so clearly. (I miss you, you crotchety old man.)

But I’ve taken those words to heart. My thoughts aren’t well ordered, compared to where I should be. Years of writing and creating have been lost.

But if you take one thing away from this, it’s time to start. It’s time to think about how you think, and how to think better. Not for the ingestion of facts, and information, but for becoming a better YOU.