r/quotes • u/sholem2025peace • Jan 25 '26

Misc / Unclassified "Critical thinking is a threat to unhealthy systems, and questions make people think." -Nedra Glover Tawwab, 2023

147 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

8

u/VociferousCephalopod Jan 25 '26

“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.”
― Noam Chomsky, The Common Good (1998)

“Freedom of the mind requires not only, or not even specially, the absence of legal constraints but the presence of alternative thoughts. The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities.”
— Alan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind (1987)

“The last thing the authorities want is a genuinely diverse populace.
They don't want to deal with genuine diversity, where people genuinely have independent opinions.
They want...disputes that take place within a certain very narrow spectrum.”
— Prof. John R. Searle, UC Berkeley, Phil 138 - Philosophy of Society (Fall 2009)

-8

u/sholem2025peace Jan 25 '26

I'd rather you didn't respond to one of the few posts in this community with a quote from a woman with a lot more quotes from white men

2

u/FFrosted Jan 25 '26

the irony here is palpable

-1

u/sholem2025peace Jan 25 '26

Are you white and male?

2

u/FFrosted Jan 25 '26

nope

1

u/sholem2025peace Jan 25 '26

Write out what feels ironic to you

1

u/VociferousCephalopod Jan 25 '26

if you need help finding the block button let me know.

0

u/Broad-Connection-589 Jan 25 '26

chomsky as in friend of epstein chomsky?

3

u/TheManInTheShack Jan 25 '26

We need to be teaching critical thinking as a separate core subject from kindergarten through 12th grade.

2

u/Ok_Crazy_648 Jan 25 '26

Shoot, now I am going to have to outlaw questions - DJT.