Originally Posted by madeinuk
For starters I think that the 'ability' to think critically is innate.

I disagree. I think it's a learned ability, especially because there are strong social disadvantages to critical thinking, particularly for the very young. "Shut up and do what you're told!"

If it wasn't something to learn, we wouldn't have had people writing books on logic and rhetoric in classical times.

We teach our DD critical thinking through occasional ridiculous explanations her questions. This has had unexpected consequences... we've received the, "That's not real!" response when describing dinosaurs and the solar system.