GOP is against critical thinking

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It's a two years old new, but I only learned it now.

s3.amazonaws.com/texasgop_pre/assets/original/2012Platform_Final.pdf
The url don't seem to work for some reasons.
It's on page twenty.

Seem like the republicans don't like peoples thinking for themself.

Of course. Well educated voters who can think and reason for themselves don't make good minions for unquestioningly absorbing Fox News propaganda. The large scale teaching of people how to reason and critically think is an existential threat to the Republican party, and also, not uncoincidentally, to most religions.

no where in education on either side do they want to teach people to think for themselves

Politicians are against critical thinking, a huge swathes of the electorate are against critical thinking. It is not the domain of one party.

In fact the polarization without thought is a refection of that.

All I'm hearing from Capitol Hill:
"i like cupcakes"
"cupcakes are for liberals"
"no, fairy cakes are for contards"
etc, etc

It is all very unintelligent, for the most part.

Manifesto politics almost by definition lacks critical thinking, it serves as a promise. A guarantee to their supporters not to, think critically.

Seriously, I mean it occasionally used to be taught literally as a "Critical Thinking" course.

Critical Thinking is often confused with being a Contrarian these days.

That's not true. Higher ed is generally all about analytical thought....

And, when I went back to school, I noticed that it was something most of my younger classmates struggled with.
the problem is so bad that many professors provide hand-out on critical thinking in addition to the class syllabus.

Hell, just for fun I spent my entire time in intro to philosophy pretending to be a rabid materialist and making fun of the textbook.

My teacher never really caught on, and he would provide lengthy rebuttals to all my papers. BUT, he never marked off a single point because I 'disagreed' with him, because my arguments were mostly sound.

I've never had a teacher penalize me for 'thinking for myself' even when what I thought wasn't what they thought as long as I could show WHY I thought the thoughts I thought.

Never.

Anyone who has a vested interest in holding authority over others is not likely to appreciate the Power of Critical Thinking, especially when it is used against them.

Why do you think that scientists, journalists, lawyers, and other intellectuals are so despised? It's because we can cut through the bullsnot and expose the hidden truths behind the deceptions.

Why do you think that astrologers, homeopaths, evangelists, unionists, and other con artists attack anyone who can see through their "smoke and mirrors" trickery? Because we can easily dilute or eliminate their influence over their unsuspecting victims.

Why do you think that church leaders quickly learn whom to ignore and whom to suck up to? Because Critical Thinking donesn't put money in the collection plates, while gullibility, guilt, and blind faith do.

I respectfully disagree. One party generally is in favor of public education. The other party is against it, and constantly seeks to replace it with religiously-oriented private schools where its a good bet even less critical thinking will be taught once the subject matter is under the control of private groups.

I saw this before and disagree. Republicans would do a lot better if more people had critical thinking skills. That's not to say that the GOP are shining knights in armor ready to deliver us all to the promised land. But, compared to Democrats, Republicans will do less damage.

The GOP opposes thinking, period. They do not value intelligence, or integrity. They rely on the ignorance of Americans to win elections. Everything the GOP is for runs contrary to the will of majority America yet they are still able to propagandize themselves into victory in midterm elections mainly because their voting base is on the verge of extinction and easily manipulated and their propaganda has convinced the rest of the country that voting is futile. If more than even 60% of eligible voters actually showed up to vote, the GOP would be annihilated running on their policies.

All the damage we are seeing in this country now is due to the GOP and the way it uses propaganda to convince Americans that the damage THEY are doing deliberately to sabotage this country is all the fault of Obama and Liberals. They can only do this because their voting base lacks ANY thinking ability.

we each see "damage" differently - denying affordable healthcare to working class people versus denying millionaires yet more exemption from taxation. there will never be agreement here.

Democrats take away choice. Obamacare, for example, denies people the right to choose certain types of health insurance policies because Obama knows best. I'm still unclear as to why Democrats think that bumbling bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are better positioned than individuals to decide which health insurance policies are best for those individuals.

yes, democrats rob us of the freedom to starve to death. you wanna be free to buy fake insurance, then vote GOP, if that is what makes you happy.

What choice do you have when you need medical care BUT YOU CANNOT AFFORD ANY HEALTH INSURANCE?

put some of that critical thinkin' to use!

Obamacare banned perfectly legitimate health insurance policies. Why should people have to pay to have birth control pharmaceuticals included in their plan when they use the most effective and only free birth control--abstinence? Some people, particularly young people, may want a plan that only covers catastrophic and unanticipated health issues, not routine doctor visits. Obamacare essentially bans real health insurance. Do you also think the government should ban homeowner's insurance plans that don't cover weekly lawn mowings? While we're at it, let's ban car insurance plans that don't pay for the yearly inspection. That's the logic of Obamacare. It's absurd.