The best way to teach—whether as an educator, employer, or parent-is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones.
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Claim: Colleges and universities should specify all required courses and eliminate elective courses in order to provide clear guidance for students.
Reason: College students—like people in general—prefer to follow directions rather than make their own decisions.
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Some people claim that the goal of politics should be the pursuit of an ideal. Others argue that the goal should be finding common ground and reaching reasonable consensus.
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People's behavior is largely determined by forces not of their own making.
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All parents should be required to volunteer time to their children's schools.
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Educational institutions should actively encourage their students to choose fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers.
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Educators should teach facts only after their students have studied the ideas, trends, and concepts that help explain those facts.
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Governments should not fund any scientific research whose consequences are unclear.
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Some people believe that government officials must carry out the will of the people they serve. Others believe that officials should base their decisions on their own judgment.
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Governments should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development.
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In any profession—business, politics, education, government-those in power should step down after five years.
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Claim: Any piece of information referred to as a fact should be mistrusted, since it may well be proven false in the future.
Reason: Much of the information that people assume is factual actually turns out to be inaccurate.
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Claim: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive.
Reason: It is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated.
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Some people believe that government funding of the arts is necessary to ensure that the arts can flourish and be available to all people. Others believe that government funding of the arts threatens the integrity of the arts.
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Nations should pass laws to preserve any remaining wilderness areas in their natural state.
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Requiring university students to take a variety of courses outside their major fields of study is the best way to ensure that students become truly educated.
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People's attitudes are determined more by their immediate situation or surroundings than by society as a whole.
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Governments should offer a free university education to any student who has been admitted to a university but who cannot afford the tuition.
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A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.
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In this age of intensive media coverage, it is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a hero.
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As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.
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To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards.
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The best way to teach is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones.
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Teachers' salaries should be based on the academic performance of their students.
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Unfortunately, in contemporary society, creating an appealing image has become more important than the reality or truth behind that image.
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