This is an introduction to skep/dad’s so-called “three eyes” — or as they are, plainly named, Independence, Integrity, and Imagination.

As I started work on this blog a big question burned in the back of my mind. Raising young kids is not about rational explanations, learned discussions, raucous debates, or balanced explanations. In fact, raising kids is anything but those methods. I have spoken with countless parents. I have discussed at length with friends and family the ‘tricks’ in raising kids. I have read numerous parenting books. Everyone has a solution. Everyone has an answer. Everyone has a method. Everyone, of course, looks at kids like kids and those methods I alluded to above fly right out the window. Fair enough. Rational discussion? Ha! These may be the tools of adult skeptics… but children?

The question that burned in the back of my mind was this: what are the the key skills that define moral, skeptical, critical thought and how would one go about imparting those skills to a child?

This is important, I thought. This is a whiff, the essence of an ineffable characteristic that makes us human. It seems to me that these are skills — traits — bits of character that are defined from the day we are born, constructed from our earliest perceptions of the world, from our interactions with everyone we meet, and by everything we encounter.

I thought on this for a while and decided that — while I am certain there are numerous valid options — I would choose the three character traits that I value in my own self-perception, things I see within my own character that I view as vital to my external interaction with the universe. Keep in mind, skeptical inquiries aside, this is simply an opinion. The following pillars of my own inquiries and efforts will be based around these traits, but there is no scientific evidence to prove they are the correct pillars to study. That said, those pillars are:

Independence

Active independence is not about either shirking ones responsibility or the freedom from accountability of our actions, for a parent or a child. Independence does not mean going it alone. And independence does not refer to a solitary struggle through difficult choices and encounters. Rather, it is the will and power to act on our own discretion. And this is done by having good information at our disposal, the right to mess up, and the responsibility to deal with the consequences of that action or choice, good or bad.

Integrity

Willful integrity is a moral determination bound up within the whole character of an individual. It is not the opposite of independence, but rather the foil for that particular player. Where independence is about personal accountability, integrity is about recognition to a higher state; For example, recognition that we are but participants in a larger society, culture, environment, and truth. Integrity is achieved by understanding our universe to the fullest potential and balancing the forces that shape it to the best of our abilities.

Imagination

Creative imagination is a double-edged sword for a skeptic; Imagination defines the ability to construct false realities as readily as it defines the ability to extend knowledge, seek answers, and forge new questions. But we need imagination. We need to understand the power and scope of this tool, to harness its potential for the right reasons and with the right momentum. As with any sword, the more apt one is with handling it the less likely one is to cause harm to oneself and others.

Perhaps this is a start.

Perhaps this is an introduction. And perhaps this is the first few words in the foundation of a larger question: what are the the key skills that define moral, skeptical, critical thought and how would one go about imparting those skills to a child? Are those skills independence, integrity, and imagination? And if so, what do they look like? How does one teach them? Demonstrate by action and word? To a child? To an infant? To anyone?

As I mentioned before, these three pillars are merely the foundation my own inquiries and efforts, but there is no scientific evidence to prove they are the correct pillars to study. And that said, parenting, teaching, character, and morality are difficult things to quantify — and even more difficult concepts around which to formulate research proposals. These are not answers: they are questions, themes, and notions that I will pursue with a critical mind and a skeptical eye.