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- The authors state “By almost any definition, critical thinking requires grounding one’s beliefs in evidence rather than in emotion or desire…”(pg.13). Lukianoff and Haidt explain that critical thinking involves searching for evidence for or against a topic, and using your own knowledge to determine if it is valid or not. When universties forbid certain conversations to be discussed in class, they are impeding students education by not allowing them to discover their beliefs in certain topics. Teachers and education institutions are scared to offend or disagree with their students. Hard discussions about controversial topics take critical thinking, and if we are not practicing these conversations, students will not have the skill to critically thinking about evidence and information given to them. I see this with myself, I have a hard time discussing hard, controversial topics because we never practiced how to have a healthy argument with one another. The article later goes into the importance of teaching cognitive behavior therapy strategies, and how these are a crucial part of critical thinking skills. “Cognitive behavioral therapy is a modern embodiment of this ancient wisdom. It is the most extensively studied nonpharmaceutical treatment of mental illness, and is used widely to treat depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and addiction… Unlike drugs, cognitive behavioral therapy keeps working long after treatment is stopped, because it teaches thinking skills that people can continue to use” (pg. 12). The goal with cognitive behavior therapy is to first understand we all see the world through our own eyes, based on our past experiences. Then, use different thinking techniques to see the world more clearly and accurately. Most students are never taught any form of cognitive behavior therapy, which is one major reason why no one can every agree or have an open conversation. Everyone is use to seeing the world through their own eyes, and not realizing how differently others view the same situation. Being able to understand others points of view is a crucial part of critical thinking, that we are never taught.
- The ideas of fortune telling and trigger warnings are very interesting, but are very prevalent in our society. “Burns defines fortune-telling as “anticipat[ing] that things will turn out badly” and feeling “convinced that your prediction is an already-established fact.” Leahy, Holland, and McGinn define it as “predict[ing] the future negatively” or seeing potential danger in an everyday situation” (pg. 18). “Trigger warnings are sometimes demanded for a long list of ideas and attitudes that some students find politically offensive, in the name of preventing other students from being harmed” (pg. 19). Trigger warnings are an example of fortune telling, because universities and professors are predicting negative student reactions of the information being presented. Predicting negative responses causes students to believe they should respond negatively, instead of allowing them to react freely without input from adults. The authors also discuss the dangers of keeping anxiety-stricken people from their fears. This reinforces the fear, and keeps the person from living a life without this irrational fear. I completely agree with the authors on this topic. I believe we are taught that we are weaker than we are. We are taught to be scared of certain things, some with good reason for our safety. But in many other ways, our irrational fears are reinforced and avoided, instead of worked with head-on to erase that hold on ones life.
