What’s the most important skill to learn as a student? The discipline to say “no” — Quartz

Can you code? Speak a second language? How high is your IQ?

There’s much debate on what students need most to succeed in an increasingly competitive world. The challenges of automation, globalization, and political upheaval leave out the fact that we’re living an age of information overload.

According to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, the one thing that children will need to learn is “intellectual discipline.” The ability to recall facts (we have Google) and parrot popular arguments (the canon is dead) has become obsolete. Students need to wade through the noise, discern the facts, analyze perspectives, and develop their own expertise.

Source: What’s the most important skill to learn as a student? The discipline to say “no” — Quartz