I'm not saying this in the sense of, "critical thinking should be taught in public schools". The issue is rarely does the average person look at an important decision with any real amount of thought. Yes, person. Not teenager.
When I was a teenager (tail-end of dot-com boom) there was this implicit assumption that I was going to go to the best school I could afford and get accepted into -- loans be damned -- and that was it. That's what friends would tell me, my parents, television, teachers and my guidance counselor. Everyone simply rolled with it.
I didn't. I got into stellar schools, but I didn't get any full scholarships. MIT and WPI would've ultimately required a loan large enough to buy the house I grew up in at its current market value. That alone was enough to scare me shitless. My sister was at Cornell racking up that kind of debt as it was, but didn't think anything of it. I sure as hell did. I looked at my job prospects where I lived. I looked at salaries. I thought the evaluation of tech stocks was absolutely ludicrous* and wasn't sustainable. I went to a state school, paid cash thanks to working nearly full-time, withdrew second semester and planned out my alternate approach. My parents kicked me out of the house and everyone thought I was an imbecile.
They don't now. However it wasn't fate that got me where I was. I sit down, think about my situation, and figure out not only what I want to change but how I'm going to go about accomplishing it. I do it every year. I do it every time I don't like something with my current situation. It's not that people are inept. I'll have friends over that are displeased with X, and I just pelt them with questions. I ask what they don't like, what they're going to do about it, and then have them prove that plan is feasible to see if it'll float or if it needs revision. They go home with a plan, and eventually they act on it one way or another and shit gets better.
Most people would be a lot better off if they just had someone blow holes in their plans, to ensure they have a decent plan in the first place.
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* And thought my parents' notion of the house doubling in value every seven years until the end of time was nuts since I was 12 (early 90s). "Dad, does your salary double every seven years?" "... go the hell to your room."
I'm not saying this in the sense of, "critical thinking should be taught in public schools". The issue is rarely does the average person look at an important decision with any real amount of thought. Yes, person. Not teenager.
When I was a teenager (tail-end of dot-com boom) there was this implicit assumption that I was going to go to the best school I could afford and get accepted into -- loans be damned -- and that was it. That's what friends would tell me, my parents, television, teachers and my guidance counselor. Everyone simply rolled with it.
I didn't. I got into stellar schools, but I didn't get any full scholarships. MIT and WPI would've ultimately required a loan large enough to buy the house I grew up in at its current market value. That alone was enough to scare me shitless. My sister was at Cornell racking up that kind of debt as it was, but didn't think anything of it. I sure as hell did. I looked at my job prospects where I lived. I looked at salaries. I thought the evaluation of tech stocks was absolutely ludicrous* and wasn't sustainable. I went to a state school, paid cash thanks to working nearly full-time, withdrew second semester and planned out my alternate approach. My parents kicked me out of the house and everyone thought I was an imbecile.
They don't now. However it wasn't fate that got me where I was. I sit down, think about my situation, and figure out not only what I want to change but how I'm going to go about accomplishing it. I do it every year. I do it every time I don't like something with my current situation. It's not that people are inept. I'll have friends over that are displeased with X, and I just pelt them with questions. I ask what they don't like, what they're going to do about it, and then have them prove that plan is feasible to see if it'll float or if it needs revision. They go home with a plan, and eventually they act on it one way or another and shit gets better.
Most people would be a lot better off if they just had someone blow holes in their plans, to ensure they have a decent plan in the first place.
-----
* And thought my parents' notion of the house doubling in value every seven years until the end of time was nuts since I was 12 (early 90s). "Dad, does your salary double every seven years?" "... go the hell to your room."