Quote Originally Posted by bu villain View Post
I agree that our educational system is very bad at teaching critical thinking. Most schooling is nothing more than memorization of facts and rules. Of course with the pay we give teachers, we can't expect the quality to be that high. Even the good teachers are forced to focus on test scores too much.

However, I don't think education is the whole answer either. Many politicians are very intelligent people but are to worried about straying from their parties. Likewise, commentators on TV and radio are paid for pushing a one sided point of view. Those who are loud, obstinent, and degrade their opponents are celebrated and those who calmly listen to multiple views, admit grey areas, and are generally kind, respectful people get marginalized. I feel this is an increasing trend where entertainment value trumps moral value. Or maybe its just that anger and fear are stronger motivators than compassion and understanding.
Gov't schools are designed to produce good gov't subjects, not to teach us how to really understand our gov't and know what is best for us. We are taught that gov't knows best for the most part, which is part of why we have so much of a welfare state now but I digress, that's a whole other debate. My comment wasn't aimed so much at the education system as much as the laziness of the general population who have no desire to understand things that actually influence and to some extent control their lives. Let's face it, we live in a Hollywood society. Who blew who and who went to rehab is more important to most Americans than what their elected representatives are doing that determines the long term welfare or failure of our nation as a whole. How do we change the celebrity worship mindset? I'm not sure where we could even start.