最近科学网连续置顶王鸿飞老师和王德华老师的博文，很有意思，也来凑个热闹。 王鸿飞： 少一些独立思考也许更好 http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=281226 王德华： 鼓励正确的独立思考是必要的 http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=281380 读到这两篇文章，我想起了我导师给我的email里头说过这么一段话 My former research director, Robert Burwell, Jr., from whom I learned much that I still find useful (and much of it does not have to do with heterogeneous catalyst) would say something like this: I reserve the right to change my mind when new data becomes available or when a new interpretation of old data that may be only an alternate, or perhaps superior, becomes available. It is admirable to be consistent but perhaps more admirable to improve and evolve.
最近读了两个帖子，一个是王老师的少一些独立思考也许更好 （ http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=281226 ）。另一个是周老师的让独立思考受到限制读鸿飞博文小识 （ http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=281294 ）。两位老师中博客的绝大部分观点我都赞同，我只是觉得，两位老师是不是将独立思考这四个字的内涵和外延想得过于狭窄了。 如果独立思考不是单纯理解为独自一个人不考虑各种公理化的知识去思考，而是按照CNKI上（ http://define.cnki.net/social/WebForms/WebDefines.aspx?searchword=%E7%8B%AC%E7%AB%8B%E6%80%9D%E8%80%83 ）某人定义：所谓独立思考是指人们在 社会实践 中自主运用自己的头脑进行能动思维的过程亦即在坚持观察 客观事物 的基础上充分发挥主体的 自主意识 和 自主能力 独立地能动地思维、认识的过程，我觉得独立思考还是很需要的。 我自己总结的不好，不过下面摘录的这段我觉得很到位了： What is Independent Thinking? by Sharon Presley, Ph.D., Executive Director, RIT The Oxford Unabridged Dictionary offers many definitions of independent, including not depending on the authority of others and not dependent on others for forming an opinion. Making up your own mind, in other words. But what does that really mean? Does it mean forming an opinion without input from others? No , of course not, otherwise we reinvent the wheel every time we make a decision. We all need relevant information and data on which to base our opinions. It's the way that we seek information and how we apply it that makes us dependent or independent thinkers. If we uncritically accept whatever values or ideas we've been taught by parents, teachers or church, never questioning these ideas or asking ourselves if these ideas really make sense, then we are dependent thinkers (even if the ideas are true!). If we reject what our parents, teachers or church have taught us simply because they say something is right, does that make us independent thinkers? No, that's just what psychologists call anti-conformity rather than non-conformity. Making up your own mind is an action, not a reaction. Independent thinking means making sense of the world based on your own observations and experiences rather than jut depending on the word of others. It means trusting your own ability to make judgments, even if they contradict what others say. It means acting in accordance with these judgments, even if you sometimes make mistakes. An independent thinkers knows it's psychologically better to make your own mistakes than someone else's. Independent thinking is not necessarily rational or critical. Sometimes you make mistakes; sometimes it's difficult to know if your beliefs are your own or simply uncritically borrowed. No one ever said independent thinking is easy. Critical thinking is a tool that you as an independent thinker can use. It can help you decide whether your old beliefs are sensible. It can help you examine new ideas or help you solve problems in reasonable ways. 原帖在这里： http://www.rit.org/essays/think/independent.html
标签: 独立思考
