Are logic, common sense and problem solving ability becoming endangered species?

Similar questions: logic common sense problem solving ability endangered species.

Yes, I agree. Although I can't speak to what it was like decades ago, I can say that problem-solving in general seems to be a lost art. I spend the majority of my day at work mediating between internal and external customers and that's not my job.

Honestly, I think the problem lies in the communication methods used. E-mail, messaging, and voice mail don't give people the face-to-face interaction they need to resolve issues. I'm amazed sometimes when I'm asked to intervene in an issue and I find out that it's been going on for a few weeks and the parties have yet to even speak on the phone together.

People simply have too much to do and they seek the easy way out most of the time. Solving a problem is difficult and can take time. Lastly, I also think that reasonable discourse in this country has gone by the wayside.

You can no longer debate anyone about anything without risk of offending someone and having the discussion turn into a name calling session. I think that has hurt the ability of people to speak frankly with each other and really get to the heart of the issue. Often you don't know what the true problem is that you're trying to solve and you don't dare inquire further for fear of offending.

What a shame.

I think more jobs now require problem solving than before It used to be you could train an employee to do a job and handle certain variations of that job. They could work independently in a factory or work site, and they would do their job, and not worry about how it interacted with others. Assembly jobs, construction jobs, etc.Nowadays, work is much more integrated.

Employees must work in teams, and handle an infinite number of variations and problems that might come up. The job is a little different everytime. Things move faster now than in the past.

I agree that education has not focused on problem solving, and required it for graduation. And there is an increased measure of selfishness in employees, instead of being a part of a company and a team. There has always been those that are happy to help others and work in a team and figure out a solution, and there has always been those that want to do their one thing and don't want to know about anything else.

The available work is moving away from jobs that can be done without problem solving skills, and so those people without this skill are starting to stick out more. Jobs require specific training, and then individual judgement. People have to acquire problem solving skills if they want to be successful.

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There has definitely been a change... I think some of the reasons for the loss of log and common sense stem from the following changes in the way education works: (1) Less than 100 years ago, education used to be reserved for the privileged classes only. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing that this was a good thing, but like almost any change, there are always pros and cons.

There are huge benefits that we have gained individually, and as a nation for insisting that every child be educated. However, we also have to face that not everyone is cut out to go to school, and educating everyone necessarily means that the level of education has to suffer, at least to some extent. When I teach a very nonhomogeneous class, the level must go down so that I don’t lose a large percentage of my students.

When the class is homogeneous and bright, we can go faster and get more done. Public schools for all have also meant larger class sizes, and therefore much less homogeneous groups of students. The biggest effect of educating everyone is in the methods we now have to use.

Instead of teaching concepts and then letting students struggle with all different kinds of problems, the vast majority of schools teach students via the "drill and practice" method, because it works better for larger, nonhomogeneous classes. Students are shown a couple of different kinds of problems, and then they practice the methods many times. This means that they often never learn the underlying concepts, at least not well, and that results in a lack of problem solving ability in general.

Education used to be available only to the privileged--pros and cons of this: pros: a wider group of people become educated, and this benefits society cons: individual education gets a bit watered down, partly because of the number of people that need to be educated, and partly because not everyone has an I.Q. Of over 120. Culture has changed: we coddle our kids. They feel that everything they do is wonderful, and so there is no need to struggle.

Conceptual/critical thinking requires struggle. (2) Over time, I feel strongly that we have experienced "grade inflation" at all levels of our educational system. Some of this is cultural.

We somehow feel that we can’t tell Johnny that his work is not up to par, and so it is difficult for many teachers to give students anything less than a C or even a B. Some of it is just plain inflation. Students now get A’s for work that would have earned them B’s 20 or 30 years ago, and so the bar is just lower.

Most students will not work above and beyond what it takes to earn an A, and A’s are now too easy to earn (in my opinion). I teach junior high, high school, and university students (including Ph.D. Students), and I see this effect at all of these levels.

Even at excellent universities like Stanford, the attitude is that it is difficult to get into Stanford, and so a high proportion of the students deserve to get A’s. While there is some truth to that argument, I think that an A should mean something, and that it doesn’t mean a lot to have a 4.0 from Stanford, as 4.0 GPA’s are very common, and therefore cheapened. Again, students will not generally do more work than is necessary to earn an A.(3) Closely related to grade inflation is something that I call "degree inflation."

A master’s degree seems to be required now to get the same kinds of jobs that only required a B.S.Degree 20 or 30 years ago. Even Ph.D. ’s seem to have been cheapened, and there is now talk of creating a new degree that is higher than a Ph.D.

This can only mean that less qualified students are getting into graduate school and earning Ph.D. ’s. I teach Ph.D.

Students, and I can attest to the fact that many of the students in graduate school are less than qualified to be there. I am honestly shocked at times that some of these students got out of high school (given their lack of basic writing and math skills), let alone that they somehow obtained master’s degrees and are working towards doctoral degrees! All this means that people with certain "credentials" may not be as competent as people from 20+ years ago who had the same credentials.

Yes, I think that critical thinking skills are getting lost, partly because we are not expecting enough from students. I have included a recommendation for a book called "Innumeracy...," which concerns the lack of basic mathematical knowledge that our country faces today, but illiteracy is just as serious a concern, as is the inability to analyze any concept or problem, whether math, history, science, or political science. Sources: my own experience drterri's Recommendations Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences Amazon List Price: $13.00 Used from: $5.25 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 74 reviews) 200% of Nothing: An Eye Opening Tour Through the Twists and Turns of Math Abuse and Innumeracy Amazon List Price: $15.95 Used from: $0.73 Average Customer Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (based on 7 reviews) .

Kind of I think it has more to do with everyone expecting immediate gratification. That they have to work to solve the problem it entirely new and unexpected. They want it to simply be solved for them.In that way, they just aren't used to thinking.

Another part to it is that creativity is simply not encouraged in most educational systems (in the USA anyway). They give a lot of lip service to it, but in the end really creative thoughts and ideas are seen as "too different" and stomped on.Squish..

Age might have something to do with it. As I get older, I find more and more people my age lamenting how education just ain't what it used to be. "Kids these days!"

That's the joke around my house, but it could be the joke at work (a univeristy) too. Of course my kids say, "Grown-ups these days! " And well they should.

I don't know if you can remember being younger, but I remember when I was younger, adults the age I am now were perpetually complaining about how kids just aren't as nice and respectful, and don't use their common sense the way they used to. So, personally, I think getting older does have a lot to do with it. As you get older, several things happen.

One, you do, I believe, generally get smarter. You have more experience, and that helps you make better decisions, and to solve problems faster. I work in a job where I get two new graduate assistants every year.

The time for a changeover is always a moment of lament for me, because just when my folks are getting good, and I no longer have to watch over them, and help them solve problems, they leave. I feel a bit like Sysyphus, getting that rock to the top of the mountain, only to see it rolling down, and having to start all over. Except, except, I am getting better at selecting the grad students I work with, and better at training them, so it isn't as bad as it was when Ifirst started.

The second thing that happens as you get older, is that you get farther from youth, and your memory of what it was like to be young fades. I find a similar effect with my two kids, one 4 years younger than the other. The oldest is so much more capable, and I can't remember what she was like four years ago, so her sibling always seems so much less advanced in comparison with her, and, it seems, in comparison with where she was at four years ago.

With respect to problem solving skills in general, I believe that we, as a society, are getting smarter. That's a function of knowing more. We have more science available to us, and we ask smarter and smarter questions.

Our capabilities are improving. With respect to logic and common sense: well, define those terms. I've answered questions about common sense here before, and don't want to repeat myself.

I will say that common sense is not always logical, so one could be improving logic skills and problem solving skills, but reducing common sense. Common sense often does not give us the right answers, so I think that it needs to be leavened with better problem solving skills, but most importantly, a very healthy does of skepticism. Now here's the kicker.

I have to believe that people, on average, are getting better at solving problems, because our problems are getting more and more significant, and if we don't get better at it, I'm pretty sure we'll kill ourselves off. So, perhaps, on my part, it's a bit of wishful thinking.

Mensa problem solving #3! " "What is the most endangered species in North America?" "Mensa problem solving #9! " "Mensa problem solving #5!" "What is common sense?

" "Mensa problem solving #16! " "Mensa problem solving #23b!" "Mensa problem solving #8! " "Are computers good at solving math problems?

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I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.