Just trying to help my sister avoid some of the mistakes I have made
Five is a little early for critical thinking to develop. I’m not sure what part of critical thinking you mean but I think it would definitely be in either stage 3 (ages 7-11) or 4 (ages 12+) of Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development: https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457#toc-the-formal-operational-stage
There’s a lot that has been written on parenting and I’m no expert, but I would say for younger kids just keep them safe and healthy and playing and that’ll go a long way.
I think that is a process, and takes time and life experience, to learn critical thinking. It comes from being in the world and being exposed to different things and people. I definitely don’t think it is your sole responsibility to teach your sister critical thinking - you’re not the parent here. But it’s always part of growing up to realize there are things that you had the wrong idea about- this happens to everybody and it will happen for your sister, too. You cannot prevent her from being affected by harmful viewpoints - but you can be an example of somebody who has grown and changed their mind, corrected a mistake, and found your own way to live. That will do more for her than anything else.
That actually explains a lot. Some people I’ve met who don’t think a lot actually seem to have barely been thallenged.
It’s really emotionally uncomfortable, i think, to ponder whether you were wrong about something. If you have rarely or never encountered new information or different perspectives, some people hit a certain age and just…don’t want to. So they don’t.
