jdcinza13 said:
Obviously you haven't learned any critical thinking in your college classes, and if you think that knowing the facts like that are important that's great.
With all due respect, how you arrived at these broad assumptions about my education and critical thinking abilities from just a few posts of mine is beyond me.
I think knowing facts is fine, but Knowing HOW the Hurricane AFFECTS you 2,000 miles away is the whole crutch of the situation. Knowing the fact can lead you into a much deeper and more broad discussion. It's called critical thinking. It's knowing that because the 3 hurricanes occured, your produce (mostly citrus fruit) prices are going up. Your insurance company has a large payout and that affects your insurance payment. Obviously you have missed the point on why they want to see if you know about current events because they DO actually affect you. Welcome to the real world.
Your point on current events is very well stated, but it simply does not address the issue I was talking about in the first place. I understand that a current event can affect my life through the "butterfly effect," especially something as large as three hurricanes.
But, by the same token, I could also argue that what a CEO in Florida had for breakfast this morning negatively affected his hormone levels, putting him in a foul mood, which caused him to yell at his secretary, who yelled at her husband, who then got upset over the phone with his friend in Utah, who happens to be my next door neighbor, who then yelled at me. Absurd, you may say, to compare this to three hurricanes, but they both share a key factor in common: I can do nothing about them in the first place! It is one thing to
understand the ebb and flow of economies, as in the case of your citrus fruit example, and an entirely different thing to
influence the price of the citrus fruit.
This brings us back to the initial point: that knowledge of current events makes a good leader. I disagree. Perhaps it will make a more aware leader, and will give them the information to make better judgments as they influence the people around them. But what is truly important, in my opinion, is their knowledge of current events that they can
influence. Yes, there certainly are current events on the national and even international level that we can influence, but most of what the media chooses to show us is beyond our control.
The "shroud of mystery," which I admit was probably an over-dramatization on my part, is brought about by the interviews page on the SDN homepage. Virtually every dental school has interview feedback (including specific questions) except Arizona, who requested that students not discuss their interview questions.
I apologize if I offended you in my criticisms of Arizona's interviewing process. The bottom line is, what works for them works for them, and what I have to say is just my opinion. I'm sure that if I understood their criteria I would be less critical.
