We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
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Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country.
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Politicians should pursue common ground and reasonable consensus rather than elusive ideals.
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The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority.
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The most effective way to understand contemporary culture is to analyze the trends of its youth.
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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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Society should identify those children who have special talents and provide training for them at an early age to develop their talents.
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Learning is primarily a matter of personal discipline; students cannot be motivated by school or college alone.
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Educators should find out what students want included in the curriculum and then offer it to them.
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There is little justification for society to make extraordinary efforts-especially at a great cost in money and jobs-to save endangered animal or plant species.
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College students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.
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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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Some people believe that universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study. Others believe that universities should not force students to take any courses other than those that will help prepare them for jobs in their chosen fields.
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The increasingly rapid pace of life today causes more problems than it solves.
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The effectiveness of a country's leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country's citizens.
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Governments should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development.
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Claim: Major policy decisions should always be left to politicians and other government experts.
Reason: Politicians and other government experts are more informed and thus have better judgment and perspective than do members of the general public.
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People who are the most deeply committed to an idea or policy are also the most critical of it.
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Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.
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Scientists and other researchers should focus their research on areas that are likely to benefit the greatest number of people.
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It is more harmful to compromise one's own beliefs than to adhere to them.
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College students should be encouraged to pursue subjects that interest them rather than the courses that seem most likely to lead to jobs.
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Knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today.
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Claim: Knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today.
Reason: We are not able to make connections between current events and past events until we have some distance from both.
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Many important discoveries or creations are accidental: it is usually while seeking the answer to one question that we come across the answer to another.
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