Why can't college students think outside the box?

Question

I taught some pretty smart college students but they couldn't think outside the box. I asked a class if they were pro-death penalty and if so why? Some said they were because "That way, the killer can't kill again." I said, "You could blind the person or chop off his arms and put him in jail--wouldn't have much of a chance that way. They said, "Yuck, that's digusting." 2) I put two options on the board: "Electrocute slowly" and "Drown slowly." I said, Somebody killed someone you love. You can choose how the killer dies. Which would you pick? It was about 50-50. I said, "Hey, are you all for the death penalty?" Some said they weren't. I said, "Then why didn't you just say, "I wouldn't choose either." They said, "Because that wasn't one of the choices." 3) I said, why is the following deceptive: "No aspirin is better than Bayer aspirin." 70 students thought it meant Bayer was the best. I said, duh, it doesn't say that. It just says they're all the same." Is there any hope?

Answer 1

Why can't college students think outside the box? I'll tell you why. Because the arts aren't valued as a full-fledged part of the K-12 curriculum. Either they've been completely cut or they're constantly threatened with reduction and elimination. The arts are what teach divergent thinking, yet all we hear about is "More math and science!," "We must keep up with Japan!," and "We must prepare kids for jobs!!!!!!"

My daughter is a college student; a dance major. She can think outside the box. She volunteered for a psychology experiment that paid on the basis of points gained according to a strategy game. At the end of the experiment, my daughter earned the maximum amount, yet the grad student wasn't prepared with the correct amount of cash since it seems her perfect score was rare. After getting her to explain her thought process, the grad student asked, "Are you an economist?" "No," my daughter answered, "I'm a dance major."

A senior, she's carrying a 3.9 GPA, including an A in Logic & Critical Thinking.

Answer 2

There is no point in discussing logic problems with someone who thinks that the statement "No aspirin is better than Bayer aspirin" means that all aspirins are the same.

Student do not learn to be critical thinkers by having their faculty ask them trick questions... Try reading some of the excellent sources on how to teach critical thinking.

Answer 3

Well the way that alot of them go into college, the thing that was stressed to them coming up, was the ability to think INSIDE the box! You don't get a high SAT score by thinking outside the box, i don't believe.

That is what was rewarded all along, so it's kinda hard to expect something different at this point, right?

Answer 4

Depends on the type of teachers they had in the past and the individual students level of development. Many of the students that you are talking about seem to be in the duplicity stage. It is the teachers role to help them think outside of the box and move towards more relativistic thinking.

Answer 5

I dont think its fair to generalize.
But I think it depends on the type of teachers the students had in the past.
Some dont stress thinking outside the box or in the grey area. Some teach its black or white, nothing else.
Some just arent capable to think like that.

Answer 6

School doesn't teach us to think, it teaches us buzzwords to recite to make the little lights go off so we get our cracker for the day.

As a college student myself, struggling to _learn_ to think, it's driving me batsh*t insane.

Answer 7

most people are lemmings and just follow blindly to their demise.
to stand out takes courage and conviction and strength of character.
many great people were poorly regarded or thought to be demented,only years later was the truth and accuracy of their convictions discovered.

Answer 8

exactly. students need to go to college so that they can think outside the box. parents need to explain to their children how to think. the fact is is that employers who hire, hire people who they want based on their stupidity. they prejudge people and look for a perfect fit. will you pick my answer or pick someone elses ignorant answer based on what you think the correct is?

Answer 9

what?