Our best college students are very good at being critical. In fact being smart, for many, means being critical. Having strong critical skills shows that you will not be easily fooled. It is a sign of sophistication, especially when coupled with an acknowledgment of one’s own “privilege.”… But this ability will not take you very far beyond the university. Taking things apart, or taking people down, can provide the satisfactions of cynicism. But this is thin gruel.

The skill at unmasking error, or simple intellectual one-upmanship, is not totally without value, but we should be wary of creating a class of self-satisfied debunkers

Read this and pass it along to every college student and every parent of a college student you know, then revisit Daniel Dennett on how to criticize with kindness and argue intelligently. 

As I’ve written before, ours is a culture where it’s so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. But, in the end, Vonnegut put it best. 

(via explore-blog)