Steven Pearlman, Ph.D. Speaking Topics

• Thinking Critically in the ChatGPT Age: Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Improved Thinking

  (For businesses, executives, and parents)

  Given the ubiquitousness of A.I. in the workplace and academia, there’s an emerging gap between those who pawn their thinking off to A.I. and those who understand how to use A.I. to elevate their existing critical thinking skills. That gap will only widen rapidly in the coming years. While some people are content with letting A.I. do their work for them, many people want to use A.I. to improve their own thinking, ideas, decisions, and communications. But they don’t know how. Yet, with emerging research revealing that reliance on A.I. actually degrades individual thinking skills, those who learn to harness A.I.’s power to improve rather than diminish their intellect will become the job-hardened members of the workforce who standout as indispensable to any organization. Fortunately, establishing a thinking-positive relationship with A.I. is easy provided that people understand the simple science behind doing so.

  Attendee Outcomes:

  • Understand how human brains function like LLMs, and how to break LLM patterns for stronger critical thinking
  • Establish a thinking-positive relationship with A.I. (instead of the thinking-negative relationship in which most people are trapped)
  • Recognize how to spot work from colleagues that was done by A.I.
  • Capitalize on A.I.’s efficiencies for menial work while seizing opportunities to stand out as an elite problem solver, colleague, and leader

• Beyond the Buzzwords: Science-Driven Critical Thinking

  (for leadership, executives, and teams)

  Ineffective decision-making by managers at Fortune 500 companies wastes 500,000 days a year, costing $250 million in wages annually (McKinsey), and studies by both Harvard and Berkeley estimate that half the time employees are “thinking” about work-related matters, they're actually not thinking at all. Unfortunately, despite possessing critical thinking skills themselves, executives and leaders in all areas lack expertise in how to foster critical thinking in their colleagues and subordinates. Yet, multiple studies show that leaders who empower their employees with critical thinking create more positive work environments, are valued more highly for their leadership, and are seen as better critical thinkers themselves. At a time when employees are increasingly supplanting their work with canned ChatGPT outputs, the company built on employees with stronger problem solving, decision making, and communication will gain the advantage on its competition. With organizations facing an exponential rate of societal change never seen before, thinking skills have never been more important.

  Attendee Outcomes:

  • Understand what critical thinking is based on brain science rather than buzzwords and LinkedIn flow charts.
  • Learn how to elevate the critical thinking done by teams and employees, including problem solving, decision making, and communication.
  • Avoid common well-intentioned leadership pitfalls that suppress critical thinking.
  • Acquire simple methods to increase the time that employees spend thinking critically during the workday, while simultaneously shortening the think-time on many key tasks.
  • Gain confidence that employees can work with greater autonomy, thus requiring less supervision so that leaders can devote more think-time to high-level issues

• The Critical Thinking Household: Smarter Parenting, Smarter Kids

  There’s nothing any parent wants more than for their children to learn to make good decisions—the kind of decisions that lead them to success, safety, and happiness. What most parents do not realize, however, is that research tells us that the key differentiator between children who make safer vs. riskier life decisions is not raw intelligence but learned critical thinking skills. With a recent study by the Educational Testing Service finding that only 3% of college students are proficient critical thinkers, and with kids and teens facing a more complex world than ever before, every parent needs the means building a critical-thinking household. Imagine the relief parents experience in knowing that they not only can think critically through parenting problems, but that their children possess the critical thinking skills that will ensure them a better future.

  Attendee Outcomes:

  • Appreciate peace of mind that there are easy ways to help children become critical thinkers for life
  • Acquire increased ability to reason through parenting decisions.
  • Learn how to raise children to be independent critical thinkers to make better life choices, including how to navigate the pitfalls of peer pressure and social media
  • Acquire methods for helping children attain greater academic success through critical thinking—reading, writing, memorizing, etc.
  • Adopt ways to resolve confrontations and engage children in more intellectually positive regards

• How to Stand Out as a Critical Thinker

  “Critical thinking” and its cousins—problem solving, decision making, innovating, etc.—is frequently ranked by employers as one of the most sought after (yet seldom seen) skills. In fact, 95% of CEOs rate critical thinking skills as more valuable than an employees college major. Thus, in an age where people are using A.I. to supplant their own work, those who can truly think critically will stand out amongst their peers and colleagues. Yet, critical thinking remains a rare skill. According to the Educational Testing Service, only about 5% of college students think critically, including seniors. More broadly, only 2% of the thinking people do is conscious and deliberate, with 98% being subconsciously instantaneous. Imagine the power of converting even just a small percentage of the brain’s subconscious efforts into well-executed critical thinking, and thereby doubling or tripling the amount of critical thinking in the workday. Those who do so will stand out, far and above their peers and colleagues, not just as an exceptional critical thinker and problems solver, but as a communicator and leader.

  Attendee Outcomes:

  • Understand how to define true critical thinking through brain science rather than buzzwords
  • Learn how to counteract the brain’s desire to take shortcuts that undermine critical thought
  • Become empowered to convert the brain’s primal, subconscious thinking into authentic critical thinking
  • Recognize how to apply critical thinking to every aspect of life: career, parenting, leadership, education, life decisions, etc.
  • Achieve skills for fostering critical thinking in other people—teams, kids, supervisees, etc.
  • Acquire simple exercises for continuous critical thinking growth

• Infusing Critical Thinking into Education: The Challenges. The Solutions.

  Study after study confirms that educators value critical thinking highly, with over 90% of them rating it as an important, if not as the most important, aspect of education. Parallel studies also show that roughly 90% of educators work to incorporate critical thinking into their instruction. However, studies also show that educators are typically highly dissatisfied with their students’ thinking skills. In fact, since critical thinking outcomes began to be researched in the middle the last century, critical thinking outcomes in education have not only remained largely unchanged, they also have remained frightening low. And now, A.I. is prompting educators to have additional concerns about the future student thinking skills (and rightly so). What educators need more than ever are science-based, streamlined methods for converting their classrooms into critical-thinking-rich environments. And the fortunate truth is that once educators understand the simple brain hacks for stimulating thinking and sustaining it, teaching becomes easier and more enjoyable. But educators are the not only ones to benefit. When their critical thinking is ignited and valued, students enjoy education more and engage it more deeply.

  Attendee Outcomes:

  • Understand how to define critical thinking across academic disciplines.
  • Learn to create a thinking-rich environment in any subject matter.
  • Recognize how to secure space for critical thinking in the age of A.I.
  • Appreciate the common pitfalls and misconceptions about critical thinking in education.
  • Emerge with easy, concrete pedagogies for fostering critical thinking.
  • Understand the ways in which critical thinking enhances other learning outcomes, e.g., engagement, participation, retention, etc.

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