Have you been around someone when they pick 
up a particularly soft or slimy object  
(like Jello?), and exclaim:
"Ooh, that's mushy..."  If you or I were to pick up 
that item, we too would probably wince and think,
"'Yuk', you're right, that feels...squishy!  

This type of thinking stems from several places:

• Ignorance of a given topic or topics

• One's personal worldview and values

• Sloppy or lazy thinking/analysis of facts

1.    Building your house on sand when storms are constantly hitting the beach but convincing yourself that somehow it will be OK.

2.   Buying a Professional football team but instead of putting the best professional possible on the field, you fill you team with your son’s State championship high school team.  You think, “gee these kids are really good, and it will help their self image too.”  They may be excellent at the high school level, but no matter how good that team is in high school, they will be CRUSHED by the pros. 

You say, “That is preposterous, no one in their right mind would do either one of those ignorant things!”  Ok, do your own research.  Open up the newspaper and read about the incredible mushy thinking decisions, which in some cases are made by some very “smart” people.  – Shall I be controversial?  -- 1.  Suing tobacco companies for millions/billions of dollars after you have smoked 20 years and were told your entire life how dangerous it was.  – OR     2.  Continuing to vote for a political party long after they have left the values that you hold dear, simply because that is the way you were raised OR you have misconceptions about the other party and do not have the courage to change.  -- OR - 3.  Prosecuting a mother for placing her newborn in a dumpster, YET she could have aborted that very viable child 2 minutes earlier in most every state, and it would have simply been considered a choice and applauded!

 You may not like the examples, (I expect you to have a mind willing to learn and be challenged to new ideas, not one that always agrees.  AND when you disagree, do so with logic, not emotion) but you must admit they are pretty goofy in terms of Critical, logical and wise decision-making.  In fact, “GOOFY” is a good term for Mushy Thinking!!  At least in part, avoiding this "squishy" thinking involves doing your mental homework, standing by your convictions (or developing some) and taking personal responsibility for your actions.  -- To put it bluntly, mushy thinking could also be called, moronic, idiotic, even imbecilic!  Does that mean that people who use mushy thinking are idiots, imbeciles or morons ?  NO, but it means that for at least a brief moment they have strayed into that type of illogical thinking.  

If I can expose you to this concept, perhaps you and I will stray into it less and help a few others along the way to tighten their thinking as well.  

I trust that you will be challenged to give this some thought and come to your own wise (not mushy) conclusions!!)  

One of my graduate school professors put it like this:

 "Shakespeare's King Henry V spoke apt words before the Battle of Agincourt, the King blazoned to his men 
'He today that sheds his blood with me 
shall be my brother.'"

In other words: "Teaching (and learning) is all about doing battle with shoddy (mushy?) thinking -- with upgrading inferior concepts -- with spilling cerebral blood to eradicate ignorance!"