issue153 【Cracking AW】

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From the beginning of education, a student receives knowledge from his teachers. Then he takes examinations, in which what his teachers said in classes is the correct answers to the questions. After a long time, the concept that the teacher is always right is stereotyped in students' mind. However, such a concept results in a lot of disadvantages for students, no matter it is during his schoolhood or profession career. Therefore, it is very important for students to grasp critical thinking and bring a certain skepticism to what they are taught.

Without skepticism, students would become used to accept passively what teachers, books or other information sources tell them, which needs little thinking about it. Yet effective learning can not be achieved by merely remembering knowledge, but by thinking. A student who never asks questions about his courses must be the one that never thinks about the truth.

It would result in more problems in their profession career after the schoolhood is ended if students are not able to think critically. The leading one is that it is not possible for them to make a breakthrough whatever they do, for that any breakthrough is a result of skepticism of the old pattern.

For making new discoveries in science, if the student becomes a scientist, nothing is more critical than skepticism. Only when a question arise about a phenomena or an established idea does one begin to think deep into it and seek for the explanation or solution, and ultimately come up with a new idea. If he had firmly believed in the Classic Physics that was established by Newton and was accepted widely as the crest of the study of physics, Albert Einstein would not have originated the theory of relativity, which is a milestone of the development of physics.

In the business world, which is more likely to be where the student is engaged, skepticism is also of great importance. Michael Dell would not have made Dell Inc. a big success among the computer companies if he had followed what his professor said to him. While a student at the university of Texas, Michael Dell's paper in which he created a new business model----"cutting out the middle man" and selling computers directly to customers----was signed "C" by his professor, who thought that the model was impossible at all. However, Dell didn't take his professor's opinion as absolute truth and insisted in founding his own company in his model, which turned out to be a big success.

Yet too much skepticism should also be avoided. It is of no benefit if students question blindly what teachers say, which loses the function of education. What students should do is to bring a certain skepticism to whatever they study, rather than accept all passively or doubt everything. In the aspect of educators, their understanding of students' questions of what they teach is essential to create a good atmosphere for students to cultivate their critical thinking.