Evidence-Based Knowledge
When teaching scientific subjects or mathematics, pretty much everyone agrees that the content taught should be evidence-based, factual information. In fact, the scientific method itself is often part of the curriculum, and the evidence seeking and observation processes are explained and exalted as huge achievements of humankind. Yet when teaching other content, be it in the social sciences, the humanities, or even more artistic endeavors, these principles are often simply forgotten. I see no reason why this should be so.
​
Humans are logical too
There is a very important idea behind basing one’s knowledge on evidence and fact, and the one that, I believe, is the reason so many educators only follow these principles in the natural sciences. The idea is that there is a certain theory of objective knowledge which is provably (not probably) correct – not up to interpretation. There are correct and incorrect ways of understanding the world, even when we don’t yet
Teaching children how to think logically should be a primary goal of every teacher
know what these are. There may be more that we don’t know about a subject than we do know, or it may be that what we think is correct now will turn out to not be correct once we figure out some more facts and evidence. But these complications don’t make a field “unknowable” or “undecidable,” and they certainly don’t rob it of the existence of an objective reality. There seems to be a pervasive attitude that if a field of study involves humans and their whims and unpredictability (call it history, politics, psychology, and a long etcetera), then any pronouncement made about this topic will necessarily be an opinion, a subjective appreciation valid only for the author of the comment, and therefore something to be considered as valid as any other pronouncement. The idea that there can be such a thing as correct and incorrect statements in these fields is not even considered, and –according to this way of teaching – reality has become entirely a matter of personal interpretation. I disagree wholeheartedly.
​
Where logic meets civility
I believe the reason for this desire to present the study of social sciences as opinion usually stems from a worthy place: it comes from the desire to treat people well and listen to everyone’s opinion. However, listening to someone’s opinion doesn’t mean we must agree with them, or offer the same validity to their opinion as everyone else’s. Being respectful doesn’t mean not “choosing sides.” It is perfectly possible to
Every aspect of human knowledge can be approached from an evidence-based approach, even more creative ones.
evaluate the merits of someone’s opinion and find them lacking, without saying anything negative, rude or bigoted about the person who expressed such opinions. It is, in fact, a very useful exercise, both in critical thinking and in basic human civility, to learn to “take apart” someone’s argument using logic and facts, and without having to resort to personal attacks or generalizations about group identities. It is an exercise that should be taught and practiced in every social science or humanities class, since the constructs and ideas that these subjects teach are based on logic and human reasoning just as much as mathematics or physics. They all come from human minds and apply to human societies, so they necessarily make use of the human capacity for logic and reason.
​
It is precisely the capacity for logic and reason that should be taught in every aspect of our children’s education. Humans can reason by nature, but the ability to engage in logical, evidence-based thinking is most definitely a process that needs to be exercised in order to become a skill. Be it in math or in history, in the natural sciences or the social sciences, the important thing to teach is how to recognize when more knowledge is needed, when our theories need to be tested, and when to do away with our theories because the evidence shows they don’t work. From that base we can then teach our children about how to seek the extra knowledge desired, how to create objective tests for our theories, and even how to use all of this evidence in our decision-making process. I see no need to restrict this teaching to the natural sciences only, and I strongly believe the teaching of critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning can strengthen a child’s understanding of the world around them. And, even more importantly, it can help them truly appreciate, at a deep level, all the wonderful things humans are capable of.