Andre Fourie writes the first of a series of articles about secular parenting.
As the new Government of National Unity works to improve our basic education outcomes, our new administration should grab the opportunity to formalise the teaching of one of the most important and fundamental skills in the modern age: critical thinking.
Quite simply, critical thinking is the most important skill we can teach our kids. It is an immune system against misinformation, half-truths and religious superstition.
If we accept the role of education to be that of “overcoming ignorance”, critical thinking becomes our sharpest tool.
As we accelerate into the hyperconnected digital age and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, critical thinking gives our kids – and ourselves – a chance to stay true in our open pursuit of knowledge and scientific progress and safeguard the immense democratic gains of the past quarter-century.
A proliferation of mistruths and falsehoods
The digital age has given us unprecedented access to information, delivered conveniently to our fingertips via mobile phones and other connected devices.
It has arguably never been easier to read the latest findings in fields as diverse as biology, physics, cosmology, psychology, economics, language and culture. In theory, humanity’s collective knowledge of the past few thousand years is a simple search or prompt away.
But this abundance of information has a darker side: misinformation is thriving in the digital age.
A Pew Research Centre study revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe fake news causes confusion about facts surrounding current events. A report by Full Fact, an independent fact-checking organisation that finds, exposes and counters the harm of misinformation, highlighted social media’s role in spreading misinformation about elections and public health in particular.
And in South Africa, a Reuters report revealed that 81% of citizens express concern over misinformation, well above a global average of 59%.
The same report highlighted TikTok’s growing role as a primary news source for especially younger audiences. This is worrying considering TikTok’s use of rich media – which makes it far harder to detect misinformation – and an algorithm that is famously supportive of making misleading or false information go viral.
AI accelerating spread of misinformation
If social media is a wildfire of misinformation, AI is its jet fuel. By next year, an estimated 90% of all content posted online will be produced with the help of generative AI.
Research by the Alan Turing Institute shows that generative AI will play a significant role in the creation and spread of misinformation. Large language models such as ChatGPT make it easier to produce convincing and scalable misinformation.
Where large-scale misinformation campaigns previously required substantial resources, generative AI gives anyone with an internet connection the ability to produce large volumes of misleading or false content at an astonishing pace.
With kids getting connected at a younger age – and spending more time online – than ever before, the spread of AI-powered misinformation via social media platforms powered by algorithms that prize controversy over truth is a looming catastrophe.
Are we heading into a future shrouded in a fog of falsehoods and misguided beliefs about the world and our place within it?
Critical thinking vital for our classrooms
Critical thinking is the light that casts away the shadows of ignorance and superstition and allows us to see the world – and all its wonder – as it is.
Critical thinking teaches the value of listening and evaluation. It prizes fairness and objectivity, encourages flexibility and compels us to apply research and analysis to solve problems or understand complex issues.
And it is our primary defence against superstition, falsehoods, half-truths and lies.
Critical thinking plays an important role in mental health, creating a protective barrier against some of the worst superstitions still – unbelievably – permeating our schools and societies, especially in areas where evangelical and fundamentalist religious teachings are the norm.
A recent interaction with a teacher at our kids’ (now-former) school is a good example.
Demons or disorders?
At afternoon pickup, we struck up a quick conversation with the teacher and asked how they are settling into their new role as the head of a department. They responded by sharing their fears for the kids at the school because she was “beset by visions of demons descending upon our town, and spent the night praying for protection”.
Our kids, obviously upset about these invisible and until-now unknown forces threatening their and the town’s safety, asked us later what she was talking about and whether they should be worried.
While we could explain to them that this teacher was choosing to believe in a story – that invisible demons were attacking her, despite there being no evidence ever put forward that such demons exist – instead of the objective fact – that she was possibly suffering from anxiety – it took significant time to undo the psychological effects of a teacher telling them their town and everyone that lived in it were in imminent danger from satanic forces.
This raises an essential question for parents: Do our children have sufficient protections against the superstitious ignorance of those in charge of their learning and academic development?
Are we not morally obliged to equip our children with the tools to distinguish truth and knowledge from malicious ignorance and superstition?
SASS Critical Thinking Programme for schools
Despite the CAPS curriculum including critical thinking as one of its stated objectives, educators have limited resources and materials for its teaching. To support educators’ efforts, SASS has developed a critical thinking curriculum for the Life Orientation subject in Grades 7 to 12. Developed in partnership with Humanists International, the curriculum provides a workable framework for the introduction of critical thinking skills in the classroom.
Introducing a dedicated critical thinking curriculum to the Life Orientation subject at grade 7 to 12 provides a roadmap to reason. It is our best hope of raising defenders of the virtues of truth, and to protect them from unscientific, unproven and unhelpful beliefs and falsehoods.