The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #160697   Message #3813507
Posted By: Janie
08-Oct-16 - 05:43 PM
Thread Name: BS: Feelings = Facts
Subject: RE: BS: Feelings = Facts
I'm inclined to think intuitive thinking can be refined and developed but not taught. Either one is wired for it or one is not. Don't know that I would assert one is either born with it or not. The early brain is very plastic and while genetics certainly factor into the potentialities, I think the matrix of nurture/nature in those very early years - the development and pruning of neural pathways in response or reaction to very early experiences, is more responsible for how our brains develop and ultimately operate than pure biology and genetics alone.

Which, now that I think about it, suggests that some children by school age may learn critical thinking skills more readily than others. While the brain is most plastic during the first 2-4 years of life than at any other time, still quite plastic well into adolescence, and never completely loses plasticity, so it is always possible to teach or to improve critical thinking skills.

Keeping in mind that critical thinking is about how to think, not what to think.