#critical-thinking

#critical-thinking

Every day, we make choices, big and small. From what we eat for dinner to our careers to life-altering decisions, we are continually confronted with challenging and even intriguing complex choices. It can be easy just to follow our usual habits, ask friends and colleagues, or search the internet for advice. Sometimes, we sit back and wait for things to happen, hoping they'll sort themselves out.

Agency is what keeps us from running on cognitive autopilot. Artificial intelligence now offers to do much of that work for us. With a single prompt, we can receive elegant summaries and polished solutions that are so smooth and immediate that they can (and often do) lull us into submission. If we aren't careful, we risk becoming passengers in our own intellectual journey, letting the machine set the course.

So, I understand why so many bloggers and organizations are integrating AI tools into their writing workflows. It's tempting because it's fast and actually "works". But, here's the thing: that 800-word op-ed or heartfelt LinkedIn post - all generated with AI? That's not actually thought-leadership. In fact, a new study from MIT suggests that the use of ChatGPT actually harms critical thinking abilities.

Kids crave belonging, which makes them vulnerable to online manipulation. Predators exploit these vulnerabilities, leading to dangerous situations where teens may harm themselves for acceptance.

Forty percent of teens trust AI advice without question because AI is programmed to agree and validate. AI validation bypasses cognitive struggles needed for developing critical thinking during brain formation. Parents can counter AI dependency by offering alternative perspectives immediately after AI interactions.

Only 11 of 56 critical future skills involve technology. The rest are developed through daily conversations, focusing on essential human interactions and skills.

"Everyone ought to read all this in high school." A student expressed frustration over students not being exposed to critical historical texts and principles that inform governance.

Community Notes have been successful enough on X to inspire Meta, TikTok, and YouTube to pursue similar initiatives.

Experiential learning is a student-centered approach that emphasizes learning through doing. Instead of passively receiving information, learners actively engage in realistic tasks, reflect on their actions, and adapt their strategies.

Saying "the president admits" would tend to lead people to think the president is involved in the activity; either that he committed the act, or someone connected to him did.

Due to the instant availability of the response to almost any question, LLMs can possibly make a learning process feel effortless, and prevent users from attempting any independent problem solving.

Puzzle games offer some of the most engaging gameplay experiences in video games, with 18 current titles standing out for their critical-thinking challenges that few other genres can match.

Teams that think critically tend to be more productive because they're not wasting time on problem-solving. They're more innovative, too, because they're constantly exploring ideas.