I think our culture and education system have superseded or destroyed two very valuable tools for our lives. In my early years ,and I’m 68, people seemed to have a lot of what we called common sense. In reality this was nothing more than the use of logic.
There also seemed to be more use of critical thinking or reasoning when confronted with a question or situation with no known or apparent solution. I believe our school system, pre k through PHD have played major role in causing this problem. Where WE were given a question and told the process or tools to find the answer, I believe students of all ages are now given the question and told the answer and are expected to accept and remember it. Nuf said! Of course in math you have a set formula or process to reach a set answer which following the process properly always gives you the correct answer. Numbers don’t lie.
In life things are not so “cut and dried” as we used to say. This is where reasoning or critical thinking comes into play. A question may not have a single or certain answer. Most questions in life, society, culture,and various situations may have a number of “correct” answers. Unlike math, life has infinite variables which must be considered through critical thinking in order to reach the (or a) correct answer or solution.
I believe students today are being indoctrinated, not taught. They are being told WHAT to think not HOW to think. Because of this we are becoming a nation of, to quote Rush Limbaugh, “mind numbed robots” with no critical thinking skills.
I’m sure those doing the teaching are convinced they are right and are doing a wonderful job of preparing their students for life, probably because they have been indoctrinated by the education system. Some may know better but are cowed into or forced to follow the current program of education.