Why Teach Logic To Your Kids?

by: PhyllisWheeler
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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.

Logical thinking may not come naturally. Nevertheless, it's a skill we each need to develop, just to identify logic traps.

Instead of just going with the flow, you can be proactive and teach logic to your child. In the process, you may get some practice at it too. Here's why:

1. Learning about cause and effect, your child will be able to make better choices. For example, "friends" who urge him to misuse his money and his time may find he understands what the logical consequences of such behavior are.

2. Your child will be a good problem-solver. Good problem-solving involves coming up with a list of options to consider. This will help later on in a range of situations, from how to deal with a plugged-up sink to what to do about a car that 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. What about persuasion in the media? Let's say a reporter asks five people whether they think illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay. All of them say yes. Then the reporter concludes that everyone wants illegal immigrants to be able to stay. Does your child see the problem here? The error is in the size of the sample group--too small. The reporter needs a much broader sample.

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 computer logic as well. Computers think simply: if A is true, do B; if not, do C. Our own brains aren't so linear. But learning to think in a linear manner like this will help a child learn logical thinking, a useful skill in the Information Age. In fact, a child who learns about computers can master computers eventually.

About the Author

Find out about computer programming for children and teens and get a no-cost e-lesson on Internet research, the Internet Scavenger Hunt. Phyllis Wheeler provides materials for those who want to instruct their children and teens fun computer skills.  

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