Critical Thinking

It would appear that, at least for the time being, this blog is developing into a daily reflection of my chewing the cud on an experience I have had shortly before writing the entry.
Contrary to popular belief, some Chinese students are more than capable of critical thinking. During my lesson today on that topic one student, when asked what was wrong with a particular author's conclusion that English was destined to remain the global language was quick to point out that the conclusion was illogical and not supported by his arguments that English was the global language due to historical, economic and practical ("it is easy to learn") reasons. None of these assumptions, even if true, means that English has to remain the global language. China's students and graduates are on a par with those in the West and even although their education might at times not be as good as that enjoyed by their contemporaries in London, Paris, New York and Munich, that will change in the medium and longer term and, indeed, for a small minority it is already changing.
The problem is that those students represent a very small elite and for the one billion or so drones there is at best only a very basic education. When one thinks of the aristocracy of labour that made its appearance in 19th century Europe and of the consciousness developed by that class, it soon becomes difficult to envisage any real development in China coming from below. It is in vocational training that the West still remains light years ahead of China and to be honest there is more than a little trepidation on my part when I call a plumber or electrician out to repair something. Moreover, I have learned through experience that you don't buy the "made in China" lamp, which will invariably explode in your face but you go for the quality and value for money Dutch version. It is in the area of innovation that I also fail to see real change and despite what I have said about the university elite being capable of critical and indeed creative thinking it is in the area of reverse engineering that they are still excelling; they can take a Porsche apart and copy it, the copy will function, at least for a while, just as well as the original but please, please, don't ask him to tell you exactly how it is functioning.