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Being able to sit down and read a hundred pages is the more useful thing anyone can get from school. I strongly disagree. A solid base in mathematics, critica
by hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
Being able to sit down and read a hundred pages is the more useful thing anyone can get from school.
I strongly disagree. A solid base in mathematics, critical thinking, and the ability to say "I'm not getting anything out of this, I should switch to something else" are far more important.
- sandworm101 8y agoMath and critical thinking are great, but being good at those things is means little if you cannot express yourself or learn from others in your field. That requires reading.
- JackFr 8y ago> critical thinking is virtually useless if you don't actually know anything. One of the best ways to learn new things is by reading.
- always_good 8y agoI don't think so. Reading is just consumption. You don't have to do any critical thinking, just have an imagination. Though even that's optional. Critical thinking comes from problem solving, something a book certainly lacks.
- sidlls 8y agoA very narrow, specific kind of critical thinking comes from problem solving. Reading critically is a thing, and certainly part of being a well-rounded critical thinker.
- mirimir 8y agoYou can't solve problems without knowing stuff. At least, unless you want to reinvent necessary background. Yes, one can read without doing any critical thinking. But scientific and technical literature invite it. And indeed, require it for real comprehension. Good fiction, too.
- amp108 8y ago> Reading is just consumption. You don't have to do any critical thinking If that were true, you would believe anything and everything you read. I doubt that, barring Trump tweets, I will read a more ignorant statement all week.
- hfdgiutdryg 8y agoStop taking such an absurdly uncharitable interpretation of what people are writing. This is HN, don't assume others are idiots and then move on from there.
- ACow_Adonis 8y agoHow the hell are you supposed to gain abilities in math or thinking critically without the ability to sit down and read? I'm genuinely confused as to the worldview that says that the earlier doesn't come with the later as a necessary cause, unless we're talking absolutely trivial levels of math/critical thinking...
- hfdgiutdryg 8y agoSurely you understand that I'm objecting to the idea of sitting down and forcing yourself to read Shakespeare with the justification that forcing yourself to read is internally a good thing, right? I mean, it's right there in what I wrote. How you jump to an insane, uncharitable interpretation that I'm advocating not reading is beyond me.