Colleges claiming anew that they teach students how to think critically, but they do not

A number of colleges are saying their students need to learn how to debate civilly. University of Chicago was the first a number of years ago when a new president issued a letter saying something like if you want trigger warnings and safe spaces, do not come here. Last week Dartmouth said it. Today’s WSJ has an op-ed by a Harvard professor who want to have opposite sides of various hot issues debate there. Harvard is in favor of the idea in the abstract, but no way with real spokespersons for drilling or Israel or Ukraine or life or transgender not being a real medical condition.

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My next-to-last book is about this.

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It lists the honest debate tactics. There are only two: Pointing out errors or omissions in your opponents facts or logic.

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My book tells you how to identity over 100 dishonest debate tactics. In most cases, I give the antidote to that particular dishonest tactic.

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My book also has a subtitle: “and keep your own thinking straight.”

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All colleges promise in their catalogs that they will teach students how to think critically. They have the courses for doing that in their catalogs. But those courses are not mandatory or popular. They need to be mandatory—if the colleges are not going to stop promising to teach ALL students how to think critically.

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I introduce those academic disciplines in chapters about probability, decision theory, a more advanced scientific method than you got in middle school, risk management, bad instincts (behavioral economics), engineering tradeoffs. I also discuss dishonest tactics in journalism, politics, forecasters, dishonest graphics, lies that are legal.

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In a recent post-court trial pleading, I pointed out that all of the opponent’s evidence was vague, dysphemisms, imprecise, name calling, and other dishonest tactics. A reader of my book would recognize that part of my legal defense as coming from my book.

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College students and graduates that wanted that ability to think critically but did not get it in school can get most of it from that book.