[Moneyverse] Curiosity Is the Most Powerful Intelligence

"Thoughts without content are empty."

The philosopher Immanuel Kant made this assertion. (The latter part of his statement, "Intuition without concept is blind," will not be discussed here.) This dictum also serves as a useful guideline for communication. In other words, "when expressing an idea, you should provide appropriate examples." Otherwise, the idea remains empty and fails to reach the other person, merely hovering on the surface.

There has been a surge of recommendations about education in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), both domestically and internationally. While everyone emphasizes critical thinking, few articles provide examples of which specific subjects should be included under this category or how each subject should be taught. The lack of examples may not be due to poor communication techniques, but rather because the authors themselves have yet to establish the "content" of education required in the AI era.

I would like to propose "accurate thinking through accurate reading comprehension" as a subject that should be newly introduced and emphasized in the AI era. Specifically, there are four concrete subjects: verifying facts while reading, examining logical consistency, checking whether the subject is described fully, and ensuring categories and examples are aligned. Accurate reading comprehension is an activity that deepens literacy. It helps students understand and think about written subjects more clearly, systematically, and comprehensively.

I have compiled numerous examples for these four subjects. One example of completeness is as follows:

-The following paragraph is missing an essential fact. What is that fact?

"Proceeding with a business without a business plan is like building a house without a blueprint. In general, two out of three small businesses start without a business plan, and about two-thirds of them fail within five years of starting."

In this article, I propose one more essential subject for the AI era: learning by asking questions and finding answers independently. Teachers can help students inquire and explore by utilizing knowledge from various dictionaries and AI responses available through portals. Such learning can be illustrated as follows, with answers quoted from dictionaries and AI responses.

-What is the brine in salt?

"The liquid naturally dissolving and flowing out of salt."

-What are the chemical components of brine?

"Mainly magnesium chloride, and this compound is used as a coagulant in tofu production."

-Why does magnesium chloride dissolve?

"This compound absorbs moisture from the air."

-Why do we remove brine from solar salt?

"Because magnesium gives a bitter taste."

-If solar salt is praised for being rich in minerals, what do you think about using it after removing the brine, which contains the main minerals (logical inconsistency)?

"It's a contradiction." (and so on)

This question-and-answer process can be further expanded to cover taste and coagulants.

There is a significant difference between learning by receiving knowledge and learning by asking questions and finding answers on your own. The latter is an activity in which you actively expand your own knowledge system and develop your learning abilities.

We must pursue education that fills in appropriate "content" to foster critical thinking and learning skills suitable for the AI era. This is especially necessary in Korea, where enormous amounts of money, time, and effort are invested in education.

Baek Woojin, Economic Columnist

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.