Over the years of writing this blog, I have made fairly frequent mention of the importance of critical thinking. At the same time, I have usually been quick to add that it is an ideal toward which I constantly strive, one that I frequently fall short of.
There are, of course, many impediments to critical thinking: our values, experiences, ideology and biases, to name but four, can very much get in the way of sober reflection and analysis. No one, to my knowledge, has ever achieved the Platonic ideal of critical thinking. Let's face it: we are all human, and failures along the road are inevitable.
What I cannot abide, however, is a blatant disregard for critical thinking, either through willful indifference or incapacity. When the state is run thus, we are really dealing with a rudderless ship.
Which brings me to the real topic of today's post, Ontario's Doug Ford government. It is one that seems, either by intent or genetic shortcoming, to be headed by a man who displays a singular disregard for, or contempt of, critical thinking. Take, for example, his recent decision to 'repeal' a post-secondary 'requirement' for people wanting to become police officers. In fact, it has never been a requirement (a high-school diploma is all that is technically needed), but the trend for a long time has been to hire people with post-secondary education.
In response, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles had this to say:
“It’s very concerning,”... university and college educations teach a wider view of the world.
“They (police) have a very difficult job, and they require a lot of skills including critical thinking to do their jobs properly.”
The website Indeed notes the following regarding needed police skills:
Critical thinking is an officer's ability to analyze a situation from multiple perspectives and make important decisions within a short time frame. Police officers must have strong critical thinking skills, as their decisions can greatly impact the health and well-being of themselves, their colleagues and members of the public. Critical thinking also allows an officer to examine outside influences that may affect their decisions and actions to remove the possibility of bias and assess a person's conduct fairly.
While it certainly can be argued that having post-secondary education will not ensure critical thinking skills, it at least maximizes the possibility of having/developing them.
And the decision of Doug Ford to try to lower the standards is emblematic of the larger problem within his government: it engages in very little real thought when developing policy. A narrow, telescopic lens is applied to most issues. This is most apparent in the building of new houses and new highways that will exacerbate urban sprawl.
""We need more houses."
"Great. Let's open up the Greenbelt."
"People want a faster commute."
"Great. Let's build Highway 413."
Despite the dire implications of paving over farms and wetlands during this time of climate catastrophe, the hammer that is Doug Ford's brain sees nails everywhere. As a consequence, all Ontarians will have to live with heedless decisions that enrich his developer friends and also significantly undermine ways of mitigating that catastrophe.
But let's not lay the blame entirely at Ford's feet. Every member of the voting public who chooses to ignore or have only a passing acquaintance with the problems that envelop all of us are complicit.
The cynic in me believes this means that come the next provincial election, Ford will return with a majority. And we will have only ourselves and our collective lazy thinking to blame.
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