Although learning always entails the memorization of facts, it also, more importantly, entails the rigors of reasoning, the effort of proceeding step by methodical step toward the solution of, or comprehension of, a particular problem or fact. The more problems and more facts one confronts methodically, the broader one's perspective of the world becomes. The physicist's mathematical equations, the sociologist's attempt to discover causal relationships between different groups and between groups and institutions, the linguist's analysis of grammatical structures and how they determine the articulation of what we observe, all are products of reasoned efforts to grasp the world's complexity. They all also entail a willingness to question. One does not arrive at the logic that underpins a thing without first questioning all the assumptions about that thing.
Logic is like that.
It is strong-willed. It sheds the unnecessary. It does not ask for permission. It does what it has to do in order to arrive at the truth. And yet corporate ties to higher education potentially can undercut such independent thinking.