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I'm not at all sure that education and critical thinking are equivalent. There are people with little education who are excellent critical thinkers, and the converse is true as well.

Let us consider the student who asks "Will this be on the midterm?" Now it's possible to suppose that the student wishes to minimize learning to the barest essentials. However, perhaps we should look more deeply. Perhaps we should look at the students, at education, and at the reason students ask such things.

Some years ago, I was asked a question. Perhaps rhetorical; but I reflected on it for some time. The question was: "Why do people want more of everything for their money, except education? If we offer food, they want more. If we offer cars, they want more. But offer a student additional education for their tuition dollar, and they object. Why?"

The answer I came up with is that groups of people tend to behave in a rational manner; therefore, somehow the students are doing whatever they are doing for a good reason. Education is not something our society particularly values, in my opinion. As Dennisw points out, we delight in stimulation of the senses. We do not spend our days pondering a problem, reading about the issues, and perhaps writing letters on the subject. However, we do value educational credentials. A college degree may suffice to get a job, whereas a mere high school diploma will not. This does not speak to the amount of learning that may (or may not) have occurred.

What does it take to get educational credentials, also known as a degree? The cost seems to include some time, some money, and some effort. Therefore, additional time in class or working on academic material represents an increased cost in terms of both time and effort. Notice that this fits the usual behavior pattern - people want to either get more for their money, or at least minimize the cost of what they buy. As an ironic aside, one university has the slogan: "To get a good job, get a good education." Notice the emphasis on the monetary rewards, and the complete absence of any suggestion of intellectual rewards.

So - perhaps the student who frets about how little he (or she) can get by with is actually exercising critical thinking by disposing of all but the minimum essential tasks to get to the end result since the education is not valued but the degree is.

I think that critical thinking is valuable in any task. Of course we want a doctor or lawyer to exercise such capabilities. We also want a mechanic or plumber to do so. Does this extend to the waiter who brings a meal to our table? Of course it does. It also applies to everyone else we interact with - and those who exhibit such skills are generally appreciated. Those without them tend to be an annoyance at best. Perhaps there is some sort of distribution curve, such that a portion of the society lacks the intellectual horsepower to exercise critical thinking. I suspect, however, that it is a skill which can be improved.

I think that critical thinking can be applied to any number of things that have nothing to do with the big bang, the impact of hyperdeminsional branes, and the hyperbolic curvature of the universe. I think it can be applied with good effect to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. I suspect our society would be richer if the trait were more common.

I suspect that the lack of critical thinking skills does make people, and by extension the society, easier to control and manipulate. In a sense, perhaps this is desirable for some. But I suspect that such a people create fertile conditions for tyrants who hunger for power and control. And once the vacant-eyed masses accept the tyrant, they will not have the capacity to discern where the path leads. I question whether an unthinking people can remain a free people.