Wish It Were So. But It Is Insufficient
The problem you note and the need are unequivocal. However, the promotion of critical thinking has gone on as long as I can recall — to little avail. That is because your either drawn to it or not (like any knowledge acquisition skill) and or the number of knowledge domains it can be effectively applied by any individual has a practical limit. (see my article, Never Smart Enough)
The fact is critical thinking needs to be augmented — think calculators, spreadsheets and word-processors. This is a civilizational necessity (see my article, The Gods Must Be Crazy). Moreover, it is actually a good fit with Dawkins counterpart to the “Selfish Gene,” as “The Extended Phenotype.”
Finally, the quantity of info and content is already overwhelming everyone, yet is accelerating. We all need better shortcuts. Otherwise we will be investing our critical thinking skills on topics irrelevant to what will run us over.
Btw, in the context of this article, you might find a video from Edge.org illuminating called, “Learning By Thinking,” by Tania Lombrozo
Doc Huston
