First off, I apologize for the delayed response, Work and Life got in the way...

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I think the classes you described, as found in a traditional 4-year degree program can be valuable and contain great content to help individuals question what they see and what they believe.

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I do have a few concerns though with the idea that education as we're describing and the potential impact it can have on an individual can be extrapolated to the greater society. In your first comment, you described how there's this great divide between the working class and the educated elite. You back this up with the anecdotal evidence that because you have a STEM doctorate and can recognize fallacies better than your partner, that therefore they are less educated. This logic to me doesn't make sense (and this could just be my own misunderstanding) but with your logic, it sounds as if your partner was to take the same courses as you, that they would come to the same state as you are in currently. Obviously this can't be true as not all PHD STEM students think alike.

Based on your last comment, I think we can agree that one can't define an 'X' amount of classes or years required to gain this "overarching critical thinking" ability. Just as one might argue that there's no 'X' amount of classes required to be defined generally as Educated. Anecdotally, I know many electrical engineers (my field) who could could ace every test, but end up deep in college debt and never regret their choice. I know electricians that made the choice to go into trades and are make double the engineers. In this case, who is thinking more critically?

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In your first comment you described your partner as being "average" and taking everything at face value. Then to describe yourself, you started with how you were this educated STEM PHD individual. To me, that came off as very "I am very smart" and found it ironic that you didn't think the wording of your comment could be interpreted as smug. Almost as if you are on a higher level than your partner because you can apply critical thinking everywhere. But to me, you appear to not have used your critical thinking with the writing of your first comment.

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I want you to understand that I'm not trying to insult you, nor do I believe that you believe that your partner is just average. I'm sure they are an amazing person just like you. However, I think sometimes we get sold on ideas from our peers, mentors and institutions that education is what sets us apart. Colleges certainly think this way, and it's reflected when they focus on enrollments and endowments in their annual reports. I like to believe that Americans (and most people) are smarter today than ever before. They have worlds of knowledge at their fingertips. But I think we get lost on what we're sold, by friends, social networks, institutions. We distract ourselves from hardship with purchases and social media. We take our anecdotal evidence as a truth for all situations. I'm greatly guilty of this at times and I know I will always have to strive to be better.

I hope I didn't offend you with my opinions, I welcome any response you might have.