Thisnis sometimes called the Information Age, and it is true that we arenalmost constantly surrounded by an ocean of information. With theninternet as close to hand as a telephone, up-to-the-minuteninformation on the weather, world news, our friend’s thoughts andnactivities, and even our own location (help! I’m lost!) is easy tonaccess.
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nPeoplenof the past would be bewildered about how easy it is to sitncomfortably in one’s p.j.s and find out, say, how to make a basket out of pine needlesnor what the most popular names are from year to year. (Wait, in 2010,nmore girl babies were named Isabella than any other name? I don’tnknow ANY Isabellas!)
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nAnyway,nwhat I’m getting at is that we all have a LOT of information at ournfingertips. Literally.
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nButnwhat good does this information do? We know that there is also a lotnof MISinformation on the internet; how do we know what to believe?nHow can we best use information in our decision making or goalnsetting?
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nWenhave to use reason—critical thinking skills like synthesizing andnanalyzing—in order to use information well.
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nAndntoday is the day to celebrate reason!
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nHerenare some activities to practice critical thinking skills:
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nBrain Metrix has a variety of brain-training games.
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nCyberchasen does, too!
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nCritical Thinking Web has lessons and exercises, puzzles and evenn philosophical questions to think about.
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nLearn4Goodn has some shooting games that help develop problem solving!
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nTeachNetn features some folding-paper problems to figure out.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nPrime Minister of Israel Golda Meir’s birthday
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nAnniversary of the first geocaching
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