Yes, critical thinking is on the decline.
When I was a freshman at university, one of the required courses was Critical Thinking, and mine was taught by a great instructor. We learned that you can quantify just about anything using Venn diagrams. Just as Aristotle (and Ayn Rand) said, you can prove A really is A.
(If I wasn’t so intellectually lazy right now, I’d apply them to the “Bush lied” situation, but, well. On the other hand, intellectual laziness is part of the problem — so guilt will probably compel me to look into it.)
I’m reminded of huge flocks of birds that, aggregately, turn suddenly from one direction and fly, in sync, in another. There truly does appear to be some kind of weird group-think taking place in the national/global zeitgeist — except it’s schizophrenic — split nearly evenly (Obama/Hillary, Obama/McCain, global warming acolytes/deniers, moonbats/wingnuts, etc.). Creatures like myself, and others here, who don’t buy into any kind of groupthink are increasingly rare.
But not extinct!
