Hiromi_X
Comment on a comment on ignince
Granted, this is nothing new: yet another poll revealing Americans' lack of general knowledge. The poll was conducted by some thinktank or other that bemoans the fixation on standardized testing in reading and math in public schools and promotes the teaching of liberal arts. The NY Times highlighted this comment on that page:
The sad truth is you don't need a knowledge of history or literature to succeed in almost all jobs. Haven't noticed any discussions about the Treaty of Westphalia at my workplace lately, and I work for a university.
I don't have any criticism of the commenter; instead, what bugs me is that the he is responding to what's probably the #1 justification for teaching liberal arts: It Will Help You Succeed. Critical Thinking Skills Are Valued By Employers.
Those are, I believe, the most persuasive arguments to most people for a liberal arts curriculum. But there's more to life than making money. Of course, having money and financial security is a good thing, but what about being a well-rounded, fully engaged citizen? Call me old-fashioned, but I think there are more worthy pursuits than self-interested consumption.
And yeah, you can learn things by doing in addition to reading. But your personal experience is necessarily limited; however many things you do, you do it from your point of view and through your eyes. When you do things like read novels or explore art, you get to see the world through another's perspective. When you do those things, you're not just engaging in a dialogue, you're getting into someone's head. It's the closest you can come to living another life. You not only deepen your perspective, you widen it.
The other day, I encountered someone who said that things in the past are over and done with, that there's only one logical reason that things occur, and there's essentially no point in going back and analyzing past events to figure out why they happened. In other words, there's no point to studying history. This guy has the right to vote, by the way, which is a little worrisome. No, I'm *not* saying there should be an educational requirement or intelligence test in order to vote. What bothers me is his unwillingness to be anything but ignorant.
Comments
What bothers me is his unwillingness to be anything but ignorant.
YES! Precisely! And there's more of them out there and they're multiplying.
Don't read something. You can rent the movie. Don't use logic, someone will tell you what to think. And they vote and have kids and drive cars.
It's terrifying to me.
1. Posted by darkneuro on February 29, 2008
It's interesting how knowledge works in our lives, or as you pointed out, lack of knowledge. The majority of people in this world think more like your ignorant example than other wise and the consequence is obvious to any who care to look. It's not just America where people are getting progressively less knowledgeable.
One approach I use when the topic comes up is to point out that I doubt any of our political "leaders" close their eyes to the past, or to keeping informed on the present. The ignorant are easily led, that's been proven time after time in human history, and the most common way to keep a population ignorant is to control their access to information and knowledge.
When I was young and in school there was all the hoopla over the percentage of students who were failing, and of course the answer we were given was to lower the standards. This was espoused by government, educators and religious leaders. About the only detractors came from the ranks of science.
Today the trend continues.
I can't help but wonder if it's not intentional.
If you control the knowledge, you control those who don't.
2. Posted by Brian on February 29, 2008
If you only knew how has the power within the state and government that makes the standards. Multiple choice is not the way to test. NCLB is noble in its intentions; however, it has failed to create the results its promised.
Here is a biased link:
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm
Unfortunately, I believe whether we are dumb or a genius -- we all have the right to vote -- and History reminds us of that fundamental right. Separating the issue into a generational struggle -- each generation complains about the future generation and their ignorance -- is not a new complaint and is a universal issue that is global in nature. I don't hear any country screaming "OUR KIDS ARE SMARTER THAN US AND WE LOVE THEM FOR IT!"
3. Posted by D. on March 1, 2008
Darkneuro, it kinda scares me, too. For crying out loud, our actions affect other people. How about a little thoughtfulness?
Brian, that is another effective argument for becoming an informed person: knowledge is power.
My complaint in my post is that I think there are equally compelling (or more compelling) reasons besides making money or avoiding being overpowered.
4. Posted by Hiromi on March 1, 2008
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-- George Santayana
I know this is a late comment, but this post really touches a nerve with me.
If there was ever a time in history when we needed to understand where we come from and how we got here, it is now. If there was ever a form of government that requires an educated citizenry, it is ours. We're living in a time of "holy" war, (neo-)mercantilism, and imperial ambition(and I'm not just referring to GWB here). However nothing much about human behavior has really changed in the last eight thousand years or so, except for the number of people who can be hurt by our action--or inaction.
"Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us by the former, for the sake of the latter."
-- Samuel Adams
5. Posted by Joe on March 3, 2008
Well, this is a rather light-hearted comment but relevant to some extent....
I was quite in awe to discover recently that my 6 year old nephew was very conversant in colonial American history. Hell, he knew (remembered) more than I did!
Amazing what you can find out about kids while playing "Are you smarter than a 5th grader".....*grins*
6. Posted by charlotte on March 3, 2008
A-fucken-men, Joe.
Charlotte, ain't nuthin wrong with a light-hearted comment.
For some reason, I've forgotten huge amounts of history from the colonial period, although my knowledge is pretty good from the Civil War going forward. I had to look up some shit when I read that bio of John Adams. Am looking forward to the HBO miniseries!
7. Posted by Hiromi on March 3, 2008
I'm in the Internet cafe, so I can't write as much as I'd like. However, it's not a surprise to me that this person works for a university. I've heard very similar things from people at my university, even though we're the people whose job requires that we understand "why this stuff matters". That is, why the human context that we were born into matters for our lives, explains our world, and how it made us who we are.
Interestingly enough, I think Osama bin Laden, in one of his communiques, talked about how he is very specifically fighting the West that was created with the Treaty of Westphalia, so at least someone still sees it as constituent of who we are as people, even though he's a loon. And even though many of us seem to be in a race to escape all context, tradition, and the larger integrities that we exist within. There are masses of people who are entirely unmoored from any sort of larger human context whatsoever. And we wonder how people come to support things like torture.
But, here's the good news- I've found tons of readers in France, and have been told that they're still very common in the German lands and in England. In fact, a Brit recently looked at me as if I was crazy when I asked how common reading is in London. "Of course, everyone reads there!" So, there is still a world of hope.
8. Posted by rufus on March 8, 2008