Teaching Critical Thinking in Thailand [Season 3, Episode 14]

In a culture where most people have seen ghosts, visit
fortune tellers, and where questioning authority is kind of, sort
of, not really cool, critical thinking may seem like a foreign
concept. However, we happen to have an expert on hand - our own
Ed "The Truth" Knuth, who teaches a critical thinking class as
part of his university course.


On the surface, it may seem that Thais are worse at
thinking critically than westerners, but Ed explains that (at
least in his opinion), it really depends on what people think
about. If Thais are good at math and engineering, that means they
have the faculties to think critically. Greg points out that the
issue is fraught with cultural obstacles, such as the need to
constantly respect authority. This is undoubtedly true, but Ed
tells a few stories about how enthusiastically his students jump
into his course, starting with a discussion about bigfoot and
ending with a critical analyses of the fortunes that each student
got done at the beginning of the semester. So the seed is
planted...but even Ed can't hazard a guess as to how much of
these skills stick around after the semester is over.
 


The boys also get to Love, Loathe, or Leave, discussing
those...pantaloon...diaper...things that are part of the
traditional Thai outfit. We're not ruining anything by saying
neither Greg nor Ed look good in these - but what do they think
of them when not wrapped in silky goodness?


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