Six Reasons Your Child Should Learn Logic

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.

Unfortunately, learning logical thinking doesn't just come naturally for most people. But it's an important skill. Logic traps are everywhere.

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. Problem-solving will be something your child can do as he grows older. Faced with any problem, such as dealing with a plugged-up sink or a broken-down car, your child will be able to list options and pick one.

3. In a media culture, your child will be better equipped to evaluate advertising. He will be able to identify circular reasoning fallacies, for example. Such a fallacy would be in the advertising slogan "Happy people buy Sloan's coffee." What the advertiser is actually saying is, "Buy Sloan's coffee, and you'll be happy." Can your child identify circular logic like this?

4. Your child will be able to evaluate generalizations made in the media. Perhaps he sees a reporter interviewing five people about illegal immigration. All five think illegal immigrants should be given amnesty. Then the reporter announces that everyone thinks illegal immigrants should get amnesty. But that's another logic error--generalizing from too small a sample group. Does your child see this error?

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. Computer logic is another thing your child will be able to understand. Computers are very basic thinkers: if statement A is true, do action B. If not, do action C. In comparison, our own brains tend to skip around. But learning programming and logical sequences helps a child learn logical thinking. This is a useful skill for the Information Age. In fact, if your child learns about computers, he will be able to master them eventually.

About the Author

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

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