Logic and illogic in educationJon Rappoport The basic fact is: students in schools are rarely taught how to follow a line of reasoning from beginning to end. Nor do they practice analyzing half-formed, specious reasoning. Who teaches young students, these days, how to distinguish between a polemic and a formal argument? Teachers spend little or no time discussing hidden premises or assumptions, which color subsequent arguments. Increasingly, people are learning from watching videos. Some videos are well done; many others intentionally omit vital data and make inferences based on shocking images. A focused study of logic can illuminate a range of subjects and disciplines. It can suddenly bring perspective to fields of inquiry that were formerly mysterious and impenetrable. Logic is the parent of knowledge. It contains the principles and methods common to all investigation. Being able to spot and understand logical flaws and fallacies embedded in an article, essay, book immediately lifts the intelligence level. Logic isnt a prison; one isnt forced to obey its rules. But the ability to deploy it, versus not understanding what it is, is like the difference between randomly hammering at a keyboard and typing coherent paragraphs. Its the difference between, I agree with what hes writing, and I know exactly how hes making his argument. In the West, the tradition of logic was codified by Aristotle. Before him, Plato, in the Socratic Dialogues, employed it to confound Socrates opponents. High schools today dont teach logic for two reasons. The teachers dont understand the subject, and logic as a separate discipline has been deleted because students, armed with it, would become authentically independent. The goal of education rejects independent minds, despite assurances to the contrary. Logic and critical analysis should be taught in phases, with each phase encompassing more complex passages of text offered for scrutiny. Eventually, students would delve into thorny circumstantial arguments, which make up a great deal of modern investigation and research, and which need to be assessed on the basis of degrees of probable validity and truth. Its like a climbing a mountain. The lower paths are relatively easy, if the map is clear. At higher elevation, more elements come into play, and a greater degree of skill and experience is required. My college logic teacher introduced his subject to the class this way: Once youve finished this semester, youll know when you know, and youll know when you dont know. The second part of his statement has great value. It enables real research beyond egotistical concerns, beyond self-serving presumptions, beyond secretly assuming what youre pretending to prove. We certainly dont live in an age of reason; far from it. Therefore, the greater need to learn logic. Among other benefits, it centers the thinking process. In a landscape of controversy, babble, bluster, public relations, covert propaganda, and outright lying, one has a dependable compass. For instance, understanding the scientific method (hypothesis-prediction) would go a long way toward untangling some of the outrageous claims of science, and separating them from the political agendas they serve. Beginning in ancient Greece, coming up through the Middle Ages, and into the 19th century, logic was one aspect of education called the Trivium (the three): in sequence, a student learned grammar, then logic, then rhetoric. Except in scattered places, where people have consciously instituted a revival of the Trivium, that integrated method of teaching is gone now. Instead, in primary and middle schools, we have superficial coasting through many academic subjects, lacking the necessary exercises and drills to ensure that students absorb material. In other words, we have imposed ADHD. Logic isnt the end-all and be-all of life. It doesnt define what life is. Its a tool. You either have it or you dont. You can use it or you cant. When you can, you have more power, and whole new vistas, previously unseen, open up to you. Jon Rappoport is the author of two explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed and Exit From the Matrix, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com 