I think that the problem is students are being taught "how to think", not "what to think".
Back in the bad old days, students crammed lots of facts in into their heads. That gave them an understanding of how the world worked, how it has worked in the past, and a solid platform for thinking about how it might change.
Now, students learn "how to think". Of course, nobody can teach that. So instead, they learn how to churn out 3 point essays, pretend to examine both sides of the argument, then to declare that, on the balance, the side which they gave the most air time to has more points in favor of it.
I think students should be tought "how to think" and not "what to think". Teaching what to think is, to some extent, brainwashing. The problem, as you pointed out, is that institutions try to teach "how to think" but fail at it.
IMO, one cannot think without a base of knowledge and facts. To attempt to think without knowledge leads to erroneous conclusions base on what feels good. The profound level of ignorance that I see sometimes in the so-called educated young people of today is bad. Worse, they often don't even realize they're ignorant. And worst of all, some even revel in it and proclaim the knowledge is irrelevant.
Back in the bad old days, students crammed lots of facts in into their heads. That gave them an understanding of how the world worked, how it has worked in the past, and a solid platform for thinking about how it might change.
Now, students learn "how to think". Of course, nobody can teach that. So instead, they learn how to churn out 3 point essays, pretend to examine both sides of the argument, then to declare that, on the balance, the side which they gave the most air time to has more points in favor of it.