Critical Thinking

I CONSIDER MYSELF a basically positive person, with a healthy dose of healthy skepticism. Skepticism is crucial for human progress. Without skepticism, without questioning everything, people will believe anything. Prolonged skepticism can lead, however, to cynicism, a negative attitude which is far less productive, to the point of being detrimental to progress. We are indeed entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts, which can be verified or disproven empirically. Trump is dangerous because of all his many lies, and even more dangerous when he calls proven facts which don't suit him "fake news". American culture needs more skepticism, a good healthy dose of it, and less cynicism. At my local senior center where I volunteer, a co worker, during a political discussion, decided to rise above it all, a popular tactic. Referring to our political leaders, she exclaimed: "I think we should just throw the whole bunch out!" As if we haven't all heard that before. Its way too cynical also. And simplistic, with not enough analysis. Obviously, every politician should be evaluated on his or her merits, individually, and obviously, its better if nobody stays in any office for too long. They're not all bad. One of my senior comrades, summarizing history, asserted that "greed pretty much explains it all". Greed is indeed a big factor, and far be it for me to diminish its impact, but, I had to remind the cynic; there is much more to all of us, and therefore much more to history, than greed. Even the most cynical among us would surely have to acknowledge that much. Again, the observation was too cynical, too simplistic, too general. Simplistic, categorical thinking leads to false conclusions. it is no coincidence or mystery that the same people who believe in an all powerful anthropomorphic god in the sky and that its a good idea for all good people to carry guns tend to generally not believe in evolution or climate change. Believing in nonsense impedes one's chance of believing in reality. If the time ever comes when the human species uses its intelligence intelligently and wisely, its survival chances, and the conditions in which it survives will be far better. But that, as they say, is a mighty big "if".