Another result of deemphasis on the humanities and the liberal arts in public universities?
As an example:
“Yes, we have a responsibility to train for the world of employment, but are we educating for life, and without historical knowledge you are not ready for life,” Blight told me. As our political discourse is increasingly dominated by sources who care nothing for truth or credibility, we come closer and closer to the situation that Walter Lippmann warned about a century ago, in his seminal “Liberty and the News.”
I also wonder if Boyd’s definitions of Evil and Corruption fit into the discussion as to why a republic, like any other complex adaptive system, eventually decline and fall.
From “The Strategic Game of ? And ?”:
• Evil - Occurs when individuals or groups embrace codes of conduct or standards of behavior for their own personal well-being and social approval, yet violate those very same codes or standards to undermine the personal well-being and social approval of others.
• Corruption - Occurs when individuals or groups, for their own benefit, violate codes of conduct or standards of behavior that they profess or are expected to uphold.
I'm going to go extremely old school and somewhat into the reptilian part of my brain to respond to this article. So do not take it personally.
It is both too intellectual to serve as a polemic and too dry to capture the imagination of most citizens..think Norman Rockwell covers of the Saturday Evening Post magazine as a comparison.
Most people need a visual, gut level image to get their attention.
While the point of the article may be essentially true,
if it's purpose is to serve as an galvanizing essay, i don't think its mission succeeds. Sorry. There are too many points to cover, yoo much ground to cover.
Strangely enough, as a raw youth in the first days of television, and as an avid fan of 'westerns', I recall a public service tv ad done by Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. He also used the rope analogy, explaining that the three strands of a rope represented eating three square meals a day. Skipping a meal weakened the strength of a rope.
It is an uphill battle to rail at our educational institutions or society in general. The number one issue affecting national security is our polarization in our mores. That wound has been festering for several decades. (And also exploited by evil people both domestic and foreign.)
Universal national service is a good concept but a hard sell unless it was coupled with aid to help pay for school. Having a common shared experience with a cross-section of Americans would be a unifying factor.
A core curriculum would be good if we could decide what would be included. Our definition of "classic" has gone from 'Great Books' to 'World Literature' as we continue to struggle with a past that has roots in a colonial heritage. I have a classmate who is a Professor of English Lit. at Auburn U. who can document that change in focus.
One irony is that society changes, human beings change, and ideas develop and mature at different rates. When an idea is more than the ability of a culture to process it, the culture rejects the idea in a wholesale way. Or as someone once said, "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up".
Another result of deemphasis on the humanities and the liberal arts in public universities?
As an example:
“Yes, we have a responsibility to train for the world of employment, but are we educating for life, and without historical knowledge you are not ready for life,” Blight told me. As our political discourse is increasingly dominated by sources who care nothing for truth or credibility, we come closer and closer to the situation that Walter Lippmann warned about a century ago, in his seminal “Liberty and the News.”
From: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-decline-of-historical-thinking
I also wonder if Boyd’s definitions of Evil and Corruption fit into the discussion as to why a republic, like any other complex adaptive system, eventually decline and fall.
From “The Strategic Game of ? And ?”:
• Evil - Occurs when individuals or groups embrace codes of conduct or standards of behavior for their own personal well-being and social approval, yet violate those very same codes or standards to undermine the personal well-being and social approval of others.
• Corruption - Occurs when individuals or groups, for their own benefit, violate codes of conduct or standards of behavior that they profess or are expected to uphold.
I'm going to go extremely old school and somewhat into the reptilian part of my brain to respond to this article. So do not take it personally.
It is both too intellectual to serve as a polemic and too dry to capture the imagination of most citizens..think Norman Rockwell covers of the Saturday Evening Post magazine as a comparison.
Most people need a visual, gut level image to get their attention.
While the point of the article may be essentially true,
if it's purpose is to serve as an galvanizing essay, i don't think its mission succeeds. Sorry. There are too many points to cover, yoo much ground to cover.
Strangely enough, as a raw youth in the first days of television, and as an avid fan of 'westerns', I recall a public service tv ad done by Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. He also used the rope analogy, explaining that the three strands of a rope represented eating three square meals a day. Skipping a meal weakened the strength of a rope.
It is an uphill battle to rail at our educational institutions or society in general. The number one issue affecting national security is our polarization in our mores. That wound has been festering for several decades. (And also exploited by evil people both domestic and foreign.)
Universal national service is a good concept but a hard sell unless it was coupled with aid to help pay for school. Having a common shared experience with a cross-section of Americans would be a unifying factor.
A core curriculum would be good if we could decide what would be included. Our definition of "classic" has gone from 'Great Books' to 'World Literature' as we continue to struggle with a past that has roots in a colonial heritage. I have a classmate who is a Professor of English Lit. at Auburn U. who can document that change in focus.
One irony is that society changes, human beings change, and ideas develop and mature at different rates. When an idea is more than the ability of a culture to process it, the culture rejects the idea in a wholesale way. Or as someone once said, "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up".
Thank you for your perspective.... glad I got you thinking about it ;)