Nicole Cheng, G11C, RDF International School 瑞得福國際學校 G11C 程雅琳 It is often stated that we are now living in the information era, an age when information and being informed are more significant than ever before. Although people are still trying to achieve a consensus on whether it is important to know about events from around the globe even if those events do not influence their daily lives, I believe that knowing about these events is of significance. It is the events happening around the globe that encourage people to practice critical thinking. Given the advancement of freedom of speech in society, people are more likely to present their own opinions about certain things or events, especially world news, so that people can think more critically about the different kinds of events in the world. Additionally, critical thinking enables people to have greater creativity and global perspectives. Take my history class in school as an example: My history teacher always assigns us reading from the global website BBC News, which furnishes people with a huge amount of news from many places around the world with elegant and precise descriptions. I have been doing this kind of assignment for a semester and I find that while I am reading news on the website, I am always thinking about the morality or value of a certain event. For example, the refugees in Syria were not being accepted by the citizens in Germany because of the limited resources in the country. While I was reading this, I was thinking that it might not be a solution to the situation of the Syria refugees, because they are all human beings and they need shelter. Cessation of the war in Syria is the key in dealing with homeless refugees, so that they do not bear the trauma of disgusting others. This critical thinking will help me a lot with my future essays and other speeches by widening my view of the current world. Therefore, it seems manifest that learning about global events is crucial, even though it does not involve one’s daily life. Also, it helps people have more sympathy. In this increasingly globalized world, the majority of news is being transferred to every website on the Internet for people to read, making it simple for people to learn about global events. While people are reading about the news, especially disasters or other calamities, they will become sympathetic and they will not be reluctant to assist those people in need. Recognizing that human nature is in fact the sum of all social relationships, being informed will help in shaping one’s temperament both intellectually and emotionally. Individuals, both intellectually and emotionally, will be stimulated to strive for self-discipline even in adversity by these two qualities, which seems subtle now but will be influential in future. | 