> In my 20 years of education there was very little emphasis on challenging ideas or proving them wrong. I'm almost tempted to say that there was absolutely none.
In your 20 years of education you were never asked to write an essay? Or invited to partake in a class debate about this or that thing in a piece of literature?
Needing to present a cogent argument for whatever point you've chosen to make, sure. Being told to rip apart someone else's argument just for the purpose of disagreeing? Never.
In your 20 years of education you were never asked to write an essay? Or invited to partake in a class debate about this or that thing in a piece of literature?