Emoni
先輩
- 20 Sep 2003
- 1,779
- 67
First, if you are not certain what I am referring to by "critical thinking" please watch this short youtube video that explains the concept in a simple, but very well done, manner.
Now on to the question itself.
I've noticed that there have been many posters from the Middle East in the past year. Many of the posts and arguments given by these posters has unfortunately shown a serious lack of ability for forming a sensible argument, often instead depending on opinion, highly questionable sources, sometimes racist assumptions about the world, and strong religious bias and refusal to reconsider any position. Numerous topics have been related to religion in some way, and I initially thought that the blind faith of religious thought may be the reason for this lack of ability to think critically about topics, especially those connected in anyway to their religious belief; however, now I wonder if it goes beyond that.
Before people mistake this thread as a racist rant itself against the Middle East, or even religion, let me clear some things up. I'm not speaking of ethnicity or race in any degree, but rather the region which includes a variety of different cultures and ethnicity. I'm not speaking of religion in this thread, but rather patterns and focuses of education that would allow such critical thinking to be promoted or prevented. Finally, I'm not saying that "all people from the Middle East can't think critical like us amazing people NOT from the Middle East can," as I know many people from the Middle East who think critically and provide well constructed arguments.
Yet, almost every single post I've seen recently from a poster from the Middle East on a serious topic has been almost entirely void of a coherent logic argument to support each posters statement, and while you clearly cannot label an entire region based on a small selection of the population in a specific setting (which I'm not attempting to do) it did bring into my mind the question of critical thinking taught within this region of rather heavy religious faith, strong hatred towards Israel, and which seems to view western thought with leery apprehension or outright opposition.
Of course, due to my relative ignorance of the region in general since it is not my area of expertise, I'm mostly dependent on that very population of posters for the answer.
Therefore, with the above said, these are my questions.
1) Is critical thinking taught in any direct way in education in the Middle East?
2) If taught, at what period in education is critical thinking presented and in what form? In the US, it seems to be late high school and early college when it is first seriously presented (which seems to be a bit too late). Often it appears through essay writing, or science classes, but essays themselves seem to be the focus of these and some professors I know say it is the entire point of a four year college degree.
3) What is the minimum required level of education in the Middle East country you speak of?
4) What is the common level of education attained in the Middle East country you speak of?
Thanks.
(Note: Each of these questions will depend on the country obviously. Also, understand that any of these questions could apply to other regions as well, but since I'm curious specifically about the Middle East, that is why I'm asking these questions as well. It could easily be argued that the US itself is still in desperate need of critical thinking education just by looking at the news!)
Now on to the question itself.
I've noticed that there have been many posters from the Middle East in the past year. Many of the posts and arguments given by these posters has unfortunately shown a serious lack of ability for forming a sensible argument, often instead depending on opinion, highly questionable sources, sometimes racist assumptions about the world, and strong religious bias and refusal to reconsider any position. Numerous topics have been related to religion in some way, and I initially thought that the blind faith of religious thought may be the reason for this lack of ability to think critically about topics, especially those connected in anyway to their religious belief; however, now I wonder if it goes beyond that.
Before people mistake this thread as a racist rant itself against the Middle East, or even religion, let me clear some things up. I'm not speaking of ethnicity or race in any degree, but rather the region which includes a variety of different cultures and ethnicity. I'm not speaking of religion in this thread, but rather patterns and focuses of education that would allow such critical thinking to be promoted or prevented. Finally, I'm not saying that "all people from the Middle East can't think critical like us amazing people NOT from the Middle East can," as I know many people from the Middle East who think critically and provide well constructed arguments.
Yet, almost every single post I've seen recently from a poster from the Middle East on a serious topic has been almost entirely void of a coherent logic argument to support each posters statement, and while you clearly cannot label an entire region based on a small selection of the population in a specific setting (which I'm not attempting to do) it did bring into my mind the question of critical thinking taught within this region of rather heavy religious faith, strong hatred towards Israel, and which seems to view western thought with leery apprehension or outright opposition.
Of course, due to my relative ignorance of the region in general since it is not my area of expertise, I'm mostly dependent on that very population of posters for the answer.
Therefore, with the above said, these are my questions.
1) Is critical thinking taught in any direct way in education in the Middle East?
2) If taught, at what period in education is critical thinking presented and in what form? In the US, it seems to be late high school and early college when it is first seriously presented (which seems to be a bit too late). Often it appears through essay writing, or science classes, but essays themselves seem to be the focus of these and some professors I know say it is the entire point of a four year college degree.
3) What is the minimum required level of education in the Middle East country you speak of?
4) What is the common level of education attained in the Middle East country you speak of?
Thanks.
(Note: Each of these questions will depend on the country obviously. Also, understand that any of these questions could apply to other regions as well, but since I'm curious specifically about the Middle East, that is why I'm asking these questions as well. It could easily be argued that the US itself is still in desperate need of critical thinking education just by looking at the news!)
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