Since I’m an options planner I do enjoy ‘what, if’. What, if always reminds me of puzzles, of which I am extremely fond, that expands how I think about something. Closely related are the ‘if, then’. These kinds of mental gymnastics are great fun. I suspect that the bottom line in this is that I enjoy critical thinking. And I believe it is perhaps the single most important skill one can learn that education seems bent on stamping out.
It is the critical thinkers that press the boundaries of ‘conventional wisdom’. These are the people who developed or discovered transistors so small that they can power our iPods, iPads, computers. These are the minds who are engaged in research to eradicate cancer and other deadly diseases. Critical thinkers expand our conception of what can be accomplished. These are the activities that need encouraging.
I realize that much time can be lost if we are ignoring ‘logic’, but also sometimes the wheel does need to be reinvented. In the reinvention we may discover a ‘better mousetrap’. Okay, I’ve used a lot of cliches’ but my point is that there really is a balance between the status quo and the extreme.
Refinement is a great ally in maintaining a smooth flow from what is to what might be. Critical thinking is the engine that moves us from what is to what might be. We should not abandon nor embrace either… and we need to remember that what might be is yesterday’s what is.
