Again, another misconception. You won't find much critical thinking among American academics. They are generally not intersted in iterative based science. I acquired my crtical thinking skills independently and only supplemented them with academics studies. This made it pretty rough going for me.Dan74 wrote:As for Vipassana,it seems to me that there are some aspects to it that are completely different to critical thinking that one may learn academically.
There were exceptions. My epistemology professor was an excellent critical thinker and although he was very harsh on his students (I was not an exception; he called me Clever Dan), you could learn to how think better and better from if you swallowed your pride long enough to absorb what he was saying.
Another exception was my Learning and History of Systems of Psychology professor (he wrote a letter of recommendation for me when I applied to grad school). He held dual Ph.Ds in Psychology and Philosophy, the latter of which he earned in Europe (He was a Polish Jew and survivor of the Nazi Extermination camp, Chełmno [a.k.a., Kulmhof]. Most of his family were murdered there. He escaped, came to America, joined the Army, and was utilized during it's liberation because of his inside knoweldge.). He was a strong critic of the American General Education system. He said my "learning style" was better suited to the European university.
I also lucked out in grad school because the director of my graduate program believed strongly in critical thinking (which has made it rough going for him too; his Ph.D is in Philosophy and he was also the Chair of the Philosophy department during my first year).
Our education system is not desinged to teach us to think better but to make us employable, tax paying contributors to the Twin Towers of The Economy & The Government.