The Power of Thinking for Yourself by Sarah

The Power of Thinking for Yourself by Sarah - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

What is the most important aspect for a successful society? Is it our math and technical skills? Our writing, language and communication? What is our ultimate goal as a society? These are questions we must ask ourselves if we are ever to fight the wars we believe need to be won, or fix the problems that need to be fixed. Is our goal to create equality for all human beings? Or is it to make sure we are all happy, safe, and carefree? Maybe our goal is simply to understand our existence. We cannot even begin to answer the question of what is the most important subject taught in schools until we know what we value. More importantly, we cannot know what we value until we are all on the same page about what is our ultimate end goal. These are all things we need to be able to think about before we can ever make a traditional claim, and then we must be able to support those claims with logical evidence.
There are many questions to absorb and take in. Our generation tends to shy away from the difficult questions. We do not want to think about them because they are difficult, often confusing, and time-consuming in a society where we expect everything in an instant with an easy, black-and-white answer.
I believe that the most important subject that our schools need to be teaching, training, and encouraging is Critical Thinking. Although not a traditional subject, it is something I feel strongly about, and that I would teach if I had the opportunity. It is the basis of every other form of thought and understanding. We wonder why students struggle to grasp difficult concepts in language arts and even math, but it is because we have never been taught to think for ourselves. We simply regurgitate ideas and values we have heard and have been told to believe. But tell me, if all of the correct answers have already been found, then why is our society still so troubled?
Unfortunately, Critical Thinking is rarely taught because it challenges the very foundations of modern education. Our schools and curriculum are built upon correct, proven answers. We are to digest them and accept them without question. I do not doubt that most of it is in fact true, but not all of it. Just a few thousand years ago, the earth was believed to be the center of the universe. This was accepted and taught as truth and until the idea was challenged and proven otherwise. Our society is in need of so much fixing, but we will never know where to start unless we know what is Right, and that requires thought.