If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading a student that you're right. You want to encourage them to find out what the truth is, which is probably that you're wrong.

Noam Chomsky
If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading...
If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading...
If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading...
If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading...
About This Quote

At the beginning of a class, you want to teach the subject, not convince your students that you’re right. If you start with that goal in mind, then you’re more likely to win their respect and encourage them to think for themselves. When they begin to doubt your methods, you can turn it around on them with a simple question: "How would you go about finding out what the truth is?" This last statement is very important because most students never ask this question. They simply accept the professor's word as gospel and believe everything he says. It's a good idea to first find out what their doubts or questions are so that you can address those topics first before you move on to more advanced material.

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More Quotes By Noam Chomsky
  1. Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry?

  2. I was never aware of any other option but to question everything.

  3. The only debatable issue, it seems to me, is whether it is more ridiculous to turn to experts in social theory for general well-confirmed propositions, or to the specialists in the great religions and philosophical systems for insights into fundamental human values.

  4. Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.

  5. Religion is based on the idea that God is an imbecile.

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