Want to Learn to Think?

It is hard to name another person who has been so highly valued in academic circles and respected among the broadest range of ordinary citizens at the same time. It is citizens, not just readers — Marietta Omarovna Chudakova (1937—2021) remains in our memory as a model of a true patriot and citizen. In recent years, Chudakova wrote extensively for children and adolescents. “Want to learn to think?” — is one of the last manuscripts she submitted to the publisher. How can one distinguish between feeling and opinion or conviction? Is it possible to change national character? Are you able to — and do you consider it necessary! — listen to your interlocutor? Are you ready to believe historical documents, or have you been convinced that there are no exact truths in history? Each of these questions is devoted to an entire chapter in the book. Marietta Omarovna suggests learning to think using the material she herself learned from — Russian literature and domestic history. And therefore, it turned out not to be a monograph or a textbook, but wise and interesting notes about what she read and experienced.