How
To Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds – Alan Jacobs (Currency)
The author’s concept here is pretty straight forward;
in today’s society, despite what we think of our own abilities when it comes to
thinking, we aren’t nearly as skilled as we might think. In How To Think: A Survival Guide for a World
at Odds, Alan Jacobs, writer, cultural critic and Baylor University, honor
professor tries mightily to make his case.
In the end, I can’t say with any certainty that he
manages to hit the mark, but he does make some interesting suppositions along
the way. One of my favorite points that he makes I will best boil down to
advice that I share with my family and friends on a regular basis; don’t argue
with idiots. That advice usually comes in the course of conversation involving
a slight or perceived slight in the interplay that is part and parcel of either
a Facebook post to which somebody takes offense or a Twitter war of 140
characters spewed over and over.
Jacobs downfall when it comes to this “contrarian
treatise” is two-fold; first, I am not certain who his target audience is
intended to be here? Is he trying to go for the students he teaches or making a
vain attempt to get adults to act like adults. Either audience may struggle
with the rather high minded nature of Jacobs’ approach. Second, as we have
either evolved or devolved (take your pick) as a society, the expressed desire
to have someone take the time, to pause, to consider, to, well…think; may be
merely wishful thinking in the go for throat approach that has become the
standard modus operandi.
I think the more beneficial route here would have been
going back to plumb the depths of teaching critical thinking; how to go about
utilizing knowledge either gained or accumulated to deliver a thoughtful point
of view.
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