For all of its successes, we feel that higher education in STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—has dropped the ball in this regard. We generally do a good job teaching mechanics: students learn how to manipulate matrices, transfect cells, run genomic scans, and implement machine learning algorithms. But this focus on facts and skills comes at the expense of training and practice in the art of critical thinking. In the humanities and the social sciences, students are taught to smash conflicting ideas up against one another and grapple with discordant arguments. In
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