Teaching students how to think for themselves can be a tough task these days. The educational system has emphasized a collective mindset as opposed to letting kids learn in their own way. However, higher order thinking can lead to success in school and in life after school. In areas of study such as psychology, it is important to be able to see things from a variety of points of view. It is also important to understand how certain schools of thought have formed. While it may seem completely abstract at first glance, there are good reasons as to why people think the way that they do. Unless you understand how people came to develop their philosophies, you will never be able to analyze them or critique them. Therefore, you need to be able to model the mind in a way that makes sense to the average student. Once this modeling has been achieved, the ways of the world are much easier to understand. Learning how people think and act can lead to policies and actions that help society improve over time. In the long run, thinking on a higher plane can make it easier for humankind to thrive and grow as a species.