Who was it that said when he was asked what he thinks of the western civilization that it would be a good idea? Maybe it was Gandhi. I heard it from Robin William. But isn't it fascinating to think about the gap between art, ethics, philosophy and what people are doing that act in the name of western civilization? And in other civilizations, it's not that much different, either. It's always the case that a man who is universally miserable is the one whose ideas are nothing but noble. Somehow noble ideas and people don't get along well together in the brutal reality of society.
I used to think that I should be able to just point out this discrepancy who don't "get it" and turn them around to seeing it as it really is. When they saw the path of truth, they would forfeit their nasty ways, stop doing stupid things to each other, and live in harmony. I don't know what happened, but along the way something happened to change that, and i don't think i miss being that innocent. I'm weary of the world and yet kinda not prepared to accept that it is what it is, and start to fight by its terms. Some people realize very early on that it's a dog eat dog world and everyday is a fight for survival. I'm just trying to avoid that uncomfortable reality as much as i can for as long as i can. But someday, I fear, it'll catch up with me. Gah.
But I have to say that, unlike you perhaps, I always knew I liked the idea of humanity more than the people. Call me elitist, but people without any ideas of their own are more dangerous than people with bad ideas. I respect everyone's opinions, of course, as long as they have one. Sometimes I'm a hardass, though. I want to know where they got their opinions, and it's often from people who don't know anymore than they do. It's hard to conceive of the levels of public ignorance about major issues, about anything that should be important to the general public. Most people have no idea or have a vague idea that isn't theirs. Maybe--just maybe--I could start liking people more if they stopped being so apathetic.
I believe in humanity and people because education is generally seen to be effective. It's not just showing people so that they "see the light", but hey. I mean we're seeing what "education" (the American mainstream media) can do in the wrong hands, but it's also a testament to its effectiveness. Most of the tools used by the forces of fascism can also be used by the forces of democracy and greater humanity.
And yes, it was Gandhi who said it, that casteist twit.
True, eduction has some effect. There are more and more college educated Americans every year, and more of them are acting less and less like smart and responsible people for some reason. Just ask George Dubya Bush, holder of two Ivy League diplomas and the coiner of many a sorry phrase to enter the American lexicon. It must be something other than education at work. Maybe it's the media or political ambition that's subverting the effects of academic education.
The origin of "academy" is in Plato's school of philosophy. How much do our educational system still instill those values of free debate and intellectual speculation today? It seems to me that as soon as we leave college we find out that you can go farther in the world if you shut your mind and follow the party line. It's hard to wrap your head around when you think about that this is supposed to be the epitome of a democratic society. If it weren't for the checks and balances, the American government would very quickly slide into fascism.
However, this is a little difficult to muster up your place in society when you are not sure about which context it should be. So all the education does not give you a direction in life, and finding a direction, in my judgment, you often forget the humanistic lessons of tolerance, judiciousness, openmindedness, and so on. I'm in a state of constant battle with myself about this because i don't think anyone can become successful without being a major league asshole, as it were.
I think that you are quite generous towards the current education system. Most people find at an early stage in their education that it's better to shut your trap to get ahead, not after they're done with it.
A second problem is that the educational system has been largely made into a training system. It's quite obvious that most people that enter university do not do so to be educated, but rather to be trained in a rather narrow field of knowledge so that they can go snap a job and apply that training, rather than act as educated citizens. Universities have obliged and give out training.
But I think we can do better than this.
---
As for your assertion that one needs to be a major league asshole to be succesful, it's definitely one way, but I think that smart people can also get ahead by looking at opportunities that lay dormant in the field.
By and large, I'm only thinking of the people with advanced education because they rule the world. And you're right that they get those degrees by shutting up, not having lots of original thoughts, and backing up their semi-original theses with thousands of references to convince the educational system. That's not the reason people become closedminded after getting their college degrees though. It's because the competitive atmosphere of American life encourages you to become an automata repeating the same old things people want to hear.
I agree with you that smart people can also get ahead in life by discovering opportunities other don't see, but the brutal reality is there aren't enough opportunities for everyone. Unless you are a job seeker in information technologies, like these days maybe in computer game design, nearly universally there are fewer opportunities out there than there are job seekers. And this can only lead to the brutally smart people getting ahead in life while the others, who don't want to follow the laws of the jungle, losing out.
I think frandroid has neatly summarized the problem of "credentialing" vs. "educating." Starting sometime in the latter half of the last century, degrees became accepted as stepping stones towards certain types of job. Employers demanded degrees in fields that would provide them with workers who already had the tools to do a job, rather than with workers who had the tools to learn to do a job. This removed from the employer the expense and burden of training and mentoring employees.
Education isn't merely the product of what we learn in formal institutions of education. In the U.S., the institutions have failed, crippled at the publically funded levels by a lack of funding, and at the exclusive private levels by demands from students, parents, and employers that they turn out trained workers, rather than educated people. But this failure is made more extreme by a culture that glorifies the banal, by popular media in which shouting loudly passes for debate and ungrounded insult for rhetoric, and by a legislative culture that looks on education and the media as tools for controlling the population.
I'm sorry, but as I've been writing this on 60% of the assignments I just handed back, you are going to get inflicted with my pedagogical impulses.
'Humanity' is an abstract concept, 'human beings' are creatures. The correct term for the sum of human beings is 'humankind'. Thus to refer to the sum of human beings as 'humanity' is a category error.
This was one of the questions on the test I just marked. Not many people got it right.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 04:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 03:58 am (UTC)I used to think that I should be able to just point out this discrepancy who don't "get it" and turn them around to seeing it as it really is. When they saw the path of truth, they would forfeit their nasty ways, stop doing stupid things to each other, and live in harmony. I don't know what happened, but along the way something happened to change that, and i don't think i miss being that innocent. I'm weary of the world and yet kinda not prepared to accept that it is what it is, and start to fight by its terms. Some people realize very early on that it's a dog eat dog world and everyday is a fight for survival. I'm just trying to avoid that uncomfortable reality as much as i can for as long as i can. But someday, I fear, it'll catch up with me. Gah.
But I have to say that, unlike you perhaps, I always knew I liked the idea of humanity more than the people. Call me elitist, but people without any ideas of their own are more dangerous than people with bad ideas. I respect everyone's opinions, of course, as long as they have one. Sometimes I'm a hardass, though. I want to know where they got their opinions, and it's often from people who don't know anymore than they do. It's hard to conceive of the levels of public ignorance about major issues, about anything that should be important to the general public. Most people have no idea or have a vague idea that isn't theirs. Maybe--just maybe--I could start liking people more if they stopped being so apathetic.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 03:26 pm (UTC)And yes, it was Gandhi who said it, that casteist twit.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-27 10:40 pm (UTC)The origin of "academy" is in Plato's school of philosophy. How much do our educational system still instill those values of free debate and intellectual speculation today? It seems to me that as soon as we leave college we find out that you can go farther in the world if you shut your mind and follow the party line. It's hard to wrap your head around when you think about that this is supposed to be the epitome of a democratic society. If it weren't for the checks and balances, the American government would very quickly slide into fascism.
However, this is a little difficult to muster up your place in society when you are not sure about which context it should be. So all the education does not give you a direction in life, and finding a direction, in my judgment, you often forget the humanistic lessons of tolerance, judiciousness, openmindedness, and so on. I'm in a state of constant battle with myself about this because i don't think anyone can become successful without being a major league asshole, as it were.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 01:34 am (UTC)A second problem is that the educational system has been largely made into a training system. It's quite obvious that most people that enter university do not do so to be educated, but rather to be trained in a rather narrow field of knowledge so that they can go snap a job and apply that training, rather than act as educated citizens. Universities have obliged and give out training.
But I think we can do better than this.
---
As for your assertion that one needs to be a major league asshole to be succesful, it's definitely one way, but I think that smart people can also get ahead by looking at opportunities that lay dormant in the field.
I don't know. I'm optimistic.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 03:18 am (UTC)I agree with you that smart people can also get ahead in life by discovering opportunities other don't see, but the brutal reality is there aren't enough opportunities for everyone. Unless you are a job seeker in information technologies, like these days maybe in computer game design, nearly universally there are fewer opportunities out there than there are job seekers. And this can only lead to the brutally smart people getting ahead in life while the others, who don't want to follow the laws of the jungle, losing out.
What else can they do?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 05:39 pm (UTC)Education isn't merely the product of what we learn in formal institutions of education. In the U.S., the institutions have failed, crippled at the publically funded levels by a lack of funding, and at the exclusive private levels by demands from students, parents, and employers that they turn out trained workers, rather than educated people. But this failure is made more extreme by a culture that glorifies the banal, by popular media in which shouting loudly passes for debate and ungrounded insult for rhetoric, and by a legislative culture that looks on education and the media as tools for controlling the population.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 08:56 pm (UTC)pedantic bitch attack
Date: 2005-11-27 06:12 am (UTC)'Humanity' is an abstract concept, 'human beings' are creatures. The correct term for the sum of human beings is 'humankind'. Thus to refer to the sum of human beings as 'humanity' is a category error.
This was one of the questions on the test I just marked. Not many people got it right.
Re: pedantic bitch attack
Date: 2005-11-27 06:29 am (UTC)Re: pedantic bitch attack
Date: 2005-11-27 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 05:11 am (UTC)- Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 02:37 pm (UTC):(