Why Teach Logic To Your Kids?

In Star Trek, there's the purely logical guy, Mr. Spock, and the purely emotional guy, who is just about any other character. Real life isn't like that--we need to be able to function both ways, with our minds and with our emotions.

If you don't work on it, you may never develop the skill of logical thinking. But you need to have this skill, to identify logic traps.

It's not enough to recognize that logic ought to be taught to your child. You should go ahead and do it. Here's why:

1. Your child will be able to make better choices, understanding the principle of cause and effect. For instance, any "friends" who push him to waste money and time may find he turns a deaf ear, because he understands the logical consequences.

2. Your child will learn to tackle problems. Solving problems systematically involves considering a list of options. This your help your child deal with life problems as he becomes an adult--for example what to do if the sink plugs up or the car breaks down.

3. Your child will be better prepared to challenge advertising. He will be able to identify fallacies such as circular reasoning. For example, an advertiser might tell us, "Happy folks buy Toastie Puffs." What he means is, "Buy Toastie Puffs, and you'll be happy!" This is circular logic! Can your child recognize it?

4. Your child will be able to evaluate generalizations made in the media. Perhaps he sees a reporter interviewing five people about illegal immigration. All five think illegal immigrants should be given amnesty. Then the reporter announces that everyone thinks illegal immigrants should get amnesty. But that's another logic error--generalizing from too small a sample group. Does your child see this error?

5. Your child can evaluate the qualifications of an advisor in order to evaluate the advice. For example, his dentist may tell him to floss his teeth. The dentist is an expert, so it's a good idea to believe him. But the dentist is not an expert in car repair. Any advice he may give about your car, you should weigh carefully.

6. Your child will be able to understand how computers think. Computers think in nitty-gritty ways: if statement A is true, then do action B. Otherwise, do action C. Our brains tend to skip around in comparison. But learning to program a computer to follow a logical sequence helps the child learn to think logically, too. In the Information Age, this is a very useful skill to develop, now or later. The more your child knows about computers, the more he will be master of that device that is mastering our lives.

Article Source: ArticlesMaker.com

About the Author: Investigate computer programming for kids and get a no-cost e-lesson on Internet research, the Internet Scavenger Hunt. Phyllis Wheeler provides materials for parents who want to teach their kids fun computer skills. 

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