But is there anything that the government can gain from nurturing a sceptical public, and is it therefore likely to promote critical thinking amongst South-Africans?
In my opinion there are two sides to this motion.
1. If you foster and promote critical thinking amongst the citizens of a country it will eventually lead to a more advanced society with resultant economic and
other benefits. Hopefully also a society with good moral and ethical values.
2. On the counter side power-hungry governments will not be inclined to relinquish their power. And if they come to realize that a society may become
autonomous in their thinking by becoming critical thinkers, they may just change their mind about promoting such thinking.
But I get the feeling that the government has come to realize that they should not cook the proverbial goose, rather nurture him and in that way we all score.
Critical and
Creative thinking should, I think, be introduced as a school subject in South Africa. The great guru on this subject is Dr Edward de Bono.
He has been promoting the idea of "thinking clubs/groups" where a small number of people gather to practice and acquire the skill of thinking (not debate). He has been instrumental to having "thinking" introduced as a school subject in Venezuela and (I forget) some other countries. He is also being contracted by Australian cricket.
Metaphorically speaking, just look at the recipes used by highly successful countries.
Refer: Edward de Bono: "De Bono's Thinking Course"
www.edwdebono.com/
Barryl