One of the worst insults I could receive as a young adult was “You’re so gullible.”  I despised being taken for a fool.  As a result, I learned to question everything I heard and read.

Critical thinking is a skill worth honing and teaching to children.  It is the critical thinkers of the world who become inventors, problem solvers, and entrepreneurs.  Critical thinkers read the results of popular research and question the study’s validity before making lifestyle changes.  Critical thinkers can listen to abbreviated media blasts without getting emotional; they know there’s much more to the story; they understand sensationalism. 

• Teach skepticism.  Never accept anything at face value.  When someone asserts something as truth, explore their accuracy.  Realize that experts aren’t always correct.  Teach children to do their own research and investigation.  Encourage children to ask questions and to respectfully disagree – even with adults.  This keeps the mind alive to possibilities.

• Challenge labels.  Labels limit.  They place people in a small defined box.  For example, “She’s rich.”  “He’s smart.”  “They’re worthless.”  Labels are opinions not facts.  Their validity is dependent on your point of reference.  People form labels in an attempt to understand and control their surroundings.  Placing people, situations and things into neat categories gives a false sense of order and safety.  Critical thinkers challenge labels and come to their own conclusions.

• Read, read, read.  Reading is a great way to expand your knowledge base and expose yourself to different thinkers.  One could say, ‘We are what we read.’  Feed yourself a steady diet of new information and digest the possibilities of these ideas.  Reading magnifies ideas so that we can see them clearly.  It also exposes us to worlds we may not otherwise encounter.

• Learn from the school of life.  Every person has something to share.  Make it a game to find value in every personal encounter and encourage your children to do the same.  Show interest in a person’s history.  Be humble and let others enlighten you.  Focus less on what you want to tell and more on what you can learn.

• What did you learn today?  What did you question today?
• What labels do you place on people?  On yourself?
• Who do you see as worthless in your life?  Can you find their inherent value?