"We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own; disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning."
...eir analytical thinking, reasoning, and rhetorical abilities: a controversial argument will be presented, and students are divided into two groups, one supporting the argument and the other objecting it. Students are encouraged to develop a logical reasoning leading to their final conclusion on the topic, and must further defend their ground, search then attack their opponentsˇ¦ weaknesses. In the process of such a debate, students would often find scintillating thoughts, not from their comrades, but from their enemies. Why is this so? A short answer would be that when a group of people share the same view, they often share the same blindness as well. When a group of people support the same ideas, they often fail to see any wrong of it. It is like being among believers that have the same religion ˇV there is a hypnotizing atmosphere, and before long you would find yourself saying prayers to their god. Only when you have escaped from the field can you see the panoramic view, and realized the absurdity of its dogmas. We must learn to accept the different ideas of others - grotesque and unbelievable they may seem at first glance ˇV in order to widen our perspectives, to exclude narrowness and prejudice, and to harbor humility. "Competition is ultimately more beneficial than detrimental to society." Since the Stone Age, competition has been the invisible hand behind human evolution. Primitive men had to compete with the strength of their prey, and eventually they grew smart and outwitted the animals with sharpened blades and teamwork strategies. Then tribal societies were formed, and different tribes had to compete with their neighbors, sometimes for the sake of better resources, sometimes because of tribal feud. The result of the war race is that the tribe with the most cunning and strength wins, while the weaker ones diminish, or are absorbed by the conquerors. And as the human population grew, tribes became communities, communities into nations. Eventually, the scale of competition expanded into a global degree. A retrospect on the history of men reveals how the cruelest sort of competition ˇV that is, war ˇV can often be an incentive for technology progression. The Germans built the first U-boat in the 1940s, and they made the first flyboat, Zepplin, for military reconnaissance purposes. These tools of war may not be welcomed by the peace-loving people, but the underlying technology: underwater sonar detection, radar equipments, etc. were essential to the development of further scientific advancements. It was during the Cold War era when astrological research was granted excessive budget, for at that time the two nations were competing for the invisible weapon. Competitions elicit societal improvements. It is important for competition to exist in a trade market, because without competition, no merchant would be willing to invest in developing products or lower the prices. Microsoft was accused for this very reason ˇV US federal department believed that Microsoft had violated the antitrust law, forming a monopoly in the software market. By packing various peripheral utilit...