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In Star Trek, the logical mind of Mr. Spock contrasts with the emotional minds of everyone else. But this is fiction. In reality, each of us needs to be both logical and emotional.

Logical thinking may not come naturally. Nevertheless, it’s a skill we each need to develop, just to identify logic traps.

Here’s what you can do about it: teach logic to your child. 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. Your child will be a good problem-solver. Good problem-solving involves coming up with a list of options to consider. This will help later on in a range of situations, from how to deal with a plugged-up sink to what to do about a car that breaks down.

3. Your child will be able to see through advertising. For example, he will be able to find circular reasoning in an advertising slogan such as “Happy people buy Grandma’s Granola.” The advertiser really is saying, “Buy Grandma’s Granola, and you will be happy.” Is your child able to identify circular logic such as this?

4. What about persuasion in the media? Let’s say a reporter asks five people whether they think illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay. All of them say yes. Then the reporter concludes that everyone wants illegal immigrants to be able to stay. Does your child see the problem here? The error is in the size of the sample group–too small. The reporter needs a much broader sample.

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.

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