Respectfully disagree. I absolutely can distinguish between "I'm just parroting stuff I've read" vs. "I have this opinion for a good reason but I would have to

Respectfully disagree. I absolutely can distinguish between "I'm just parroting stuff I've read" vs. "I have this opinion for a good reason but I would have to spend time reminding myself what that is". I do both things all the time! Sometimes it's efficient to cargo cult from stuff you've read, even if you come back later with more experience and think "that was sure stupid". > If you don't remember the conditions that made you chose a solution, how can you be sure that they still apply now? I agree that you're less likely to be right in this situation, but it's still a good starting point in the solution space. In general, the key is always to be willing to notice when you made the wrong call and update your priors. But that's doesn't require approaching every question with a blank slate. It's a good thing to lean on experience. Even when you're wrong. You youngsters should absolutely question things. But you also shouldn't think you're right just because nobody has yet convinced you that you're wrong. I'm neither young nor old, which means I can remember when I questioned everything and thought I was right about all of it, and the truth is that I was an idiot :)