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LinKai_Jiang's picture

I do agree with you that

I do agree with you that guided learning is more productive. Having someone lay down the foundations and lay out the general map of the inquiry is very helpful. the Moral Life of the Babies article the author talks about the idea of being smart enables you to be smarter. That is, if stand on the shoulder of an intellectual giant you're going to see further. But I think there is something valuable to be said about the virtue of working out a problem on your own. Is Aristotle stupid (most of his physics are proven wrong)? Most people if not all will say no. He developed his intellectual capacity to a great extent, despite the fact that he didn't have the resource of evidences that we have. He was a genius in his own time. I don't want to say that personal intellectual ability should trump knowledge in all instances. But I do want to bring attention to the virtue of intellectual independence: working it out on your own.  

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