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In a society more and more dependent on experts, our
freedoms are in danger.
The American framers made the regular people the final
experts on the nation's freedom, and the further we move away from this the
more our freedoms decrease.
"Every day we receive fresh
information from the media, some of which might perhaps hold the answers we are
seeking.
"But how do we sift through all this information and decide what is
relevant to us and what is not? More important, how do we discern what is true
and what is false?
"So much of the information is contradictory....One day
chocolate is good for you, the next day it is bad for you. One day red wine
might help you live longer by guarding against heart disease, the next day it
might shorten your life by making you more susceptible to liver disease. It is
hard to know what to believe."
Why do we watch the weather forecast on the news even though
it's proven wrong nearly as often as not?
Why do we listen to the economic forecasts
from experts who have been proven wrong repeatedly, and even when they miss the
Great Depression and other major trends?
Why are we so addicted to experts?
Jefferson, Franklin and Madison were fans of science, but
they treated it differently than most modern Americans. They read scientific
works with the same mixture of curiosity, excitement and skepticism as they
read philosophy, history books, literature and political pamphlets.
In short,
they enthusiastically studied and learned from the experts, and they reserved
the right to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions regardless of
what the experts said.
Our penchant for rote learning has reached the end of its
usefulness. If we are to compete in the increasingly global economy, we need
schools which teach students to really think--deeply, creatively, independently
and holistically.
We need students who know how to think scientifically about
literature and literarily about science. We need students who know history and
languages, music and the arts, and so on.
Expertise is a major resource for any nation, but it is
especially powerful for a nation of citizens who are in the habit of deep,
independent and innovative thinking.
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Social Leader Daily by Oliver DeMille
