I know how I do it NOW.... but how to *start* it? Ever since I was a little kid, I felt an obsession with KNOWING and LEARNING so I read voraciously the non-fiction. We had a World Book Encyclopedia when I was in elementary school which I read from A-Z. If I didn't know a word, I looked it up. I'm a news junkie and I don't use the EasyBrain news - I use the news on PBS (News Hour), the PBS analysis shows, the BBC, Euro Journal, Deutsche Welk, etc.
I approach everything with the scientific method. I discard beliefs and ideas that don't hold up under cross-examination. I've changed my opinion on topics rather dramatically as I accumulate more facts on it.
I took debate in high school and college - I recommend *everyone* take debate (not just speech, though that's helpful). I also got a college degree in a discipline that oozed in the scientific method.
Thought exercise: take an opinion you hold dear. Research the heck out of reasons it might suck. If those reasons outweigh the original reasons you had that opinion - *change* your opinion. If you can do that, then you've started down the road of critical thinking. Stay informed, understand that education and study is a life long endeavor because otherwise your opinion just might be stupid if you haven't done your homework on it.
And.. this is definitely NOT a silly question
, it is a great question.
Quote:
Science:
If you don't make mistakes, you're doing it wrong.
If you don't correct those mistakes, you're doing it really wrong.
If you can't accept that you're mistaken, then you're not doing it at all.
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edit: ((someone asked about the "reading encyclopedia from A to Z" .... well, there was no "internet" in 1965, no video games, no .... well there was a lot of time
...)