One of the most important functions of critical thinking is to go 'against' the prevailing wisdom: to go against convention; to think the impossible or the unreasonable; to entertain the possibility that our present way of thinking is neither the best or most appropriate way.  One way to do this is to look back to a time when people thought otherwise and to ask whether we are necessarily smarter today, or just different. This is not easy to do.  Thinking against conventional wisdom immediately puts you in a minority position and opens you up to the easy dismissal of the comfortably popular.  But that's exactly why critical thinking is so important, because it is directed at tomorrow, not … [Read more...] about Childhood obesity, play and critical thinking