As other first graders absorbed and praised the words of their teachers, I questioned them. I became that kid that talked too much and asked too many questions. I did not understand how everyone accepted all the facts that they were given. Students were told that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees and they just accepted it. No one asked what evidence there is to support this fact or even considered the possibility it could be incorrect. They just accepted it. I believe just accepting things without even thinking about them is perhaps one of the worst things that can be done in the pursuit of knowledge. If I said that I saw a zombie, everyone would question it. However, if I instead said that penguins live in Antarctica, everyone would accept it. Even though the vast majority of them never have been to Antarctica to see penguins but rather have been told that this is the case so it must be
As other first graders absorbed and praised the words of their teachers, I questioned them. I became that kid that talked too much and asked too many questions. I did not understand how everyone accepted all the facts that they were given. Students were told that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees and they just accepted it. No one asked what evidence there is to support this fact or even considered the possibility it could be incorrect. They just accepted it. I believe just accepting things without even thinking about them is perhaps one of the worst things that can be done in the pursuit of knowledge. If I said that I saw a zombie, everyone would question it. However, if I instead said that penguins live in Antarctica, everyone would accept it. Even though the vast majority of them never have been to Antarctica to see penguins but rather have been told that this is the case so it must be