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How To Teach a Healthy Dose of Skepticism?
c0d3h4x0r writes "It's no accident that 'whatcouldpossiblygowrong' is one of the most common tags applied by this community to stories about proposed ideas or laws. The ability to spot and predict faults is a big part of what makes a great engineer. It starts with having a healthy skepticism about the world, which leads to actual critical thinking. Many books and courses teach critical thinking skills, but what is the best way to encourage and teach someone to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism? Is it even a teachable skill, or is it just an innate part of the geek personality?"
...invite your pupil over to kick your football...
...then, at the last possible second, pull it away!
That'll teach em not to be so trusting!
Populus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur...
"Force shits upon Reason's back." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Fail alot and learn from your failures."
:)
Learn from that one!
Surround yourself with failures and observe their demise.
You could pull a few strings here and there as well.
"Hey I saw a meatball in that light socket, take this fork and get it.
I'll even give you half of it!"
Your navel?
Which is why I don't believe that invisible monsters could possibly make fresh tomatoes bad for you.
Um... hang on a second, I need to go visit the little boys room.
Everyone knows invisible dragons aren't really invisible. They only look that way.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving isn't for you.
I prefer Heinlein's Law:
"Stupidity is often punishable by death. Sentecse is carried out immediately. There is no appeal."
That said- teach "Errors Course". Engineers of my generation heard a lot about errors, disasters, etc. caused by bad process, math, theory, materials. Who can forget the cheesy 8mm film of the Tacoma Narrows bridge failing ? Who can forget the Challenger exploding on takeoff, and the Columbia breaking up on re-entry ? And who isn't fascinated with the classic case of the "Unsinkable Titanic" sinking. On it's maiden voyage ?
Learning from mistakes is, as others have noted, often the best teacher.
The best pro-God post in the history of /.
Thank you!!
-an atheist