Duh, Duh, Part Duh
The following excerpt is from The Week, February29, 08, from Susan Jacoby's new book, The Age of American Unreason -- the essay was first published by The Washington Post, and The L.A. Times-Washington Post News Service.
" . . . That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge. The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth): it's the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place. Call this anti-rationalism -- a syndrome that is particularly dangerous to our public institutions and discourse. Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestitation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts discussions of U.S. public policy on topics from health care to taxation.
"There is no quick cure for this epidemic of arrogant anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism: rote efforts to raise standardized test scores by stuffing students with specific answers to specific questions on specific tests will not do the job. Moreover, the people who exemplify the problem are usually oblivious to it. ("Hardly anyone believes himself to be against thought and culture," Hofstadter noted.) It is past time for a serious national discussion about whether, as a nation, we truly value intellect and rationality. If this indeed turns out to be a "change election," the low level of discourse in a coutnry with a mind taught to aim at low objects ought to be the first item on the change agenda. "
Have a nice Week. If you have little kids, read to them. If you have older kids, turn off the TV and hand them a book. Pick up one yourself. If you don't have kids but have a dog, take a walk. Give your dog a nice book to read. Weather looks good for the rest of the week. We live in Paradise. Smile.
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Calhoun's Can(n)ons was originally published in 1990 in the (now defunct) Morro Bay, CA, Sun Bulletin, and since 1992 has continued in the various resurrections of the Los Osos, CA. Bay News, Bay Breeze, Bay News, Bay News-Tolosa Press. A few years ago, the Can(n)on was added to the Central Coast NewsMission blogsite. Ann Calhoun lives in Los Osos. You can email her at Churadogs at gmail dot com
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No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the misfortune is to do it solemnly.
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2 comments:
Good article, Ann. Education and information is key. Thank goodness for the internet, we can digest opposing concepts and make up our own minds after we are informed by our research.
I agree. Insightful thought-provoking blog. Scary really. On many levels.
> Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts ...
Yet we, as a country, feed on it. Few of us are smarter than a fifth grader. For some its a real stretch.
Education is more about learning how to think than what we are taught. The current model of teaching to standardized testing is proving to be pretty much a gross failure. For the students, for the faculty, for the schools and for society. And this at a most critical juncture in the history of content. Information, facts, and knowledge are growing exponentially. Daily. The internet is often held up as the great new thing - the technology that will change the way we have access to and interact with information. The potential of the internet is cited every day as counter balance to the failings of so many of the standard mechanisms of communication and education. And it does certainly hold that potential. Assuming we know what to do with the content. We must be able to qualify that which we read, hear and view. This blog - and its comments - being a fair example.
> If this indeed turns out to be a "change election," the low level of discourse in a country with a mind taught to aim at low objects ought to be the first item on the change agenda. "
That rings swell. But who will bet on it happening? I fear we may be placing too great a burden on one 'change election'. If we could just skew the way politics is done wouldn't that be enough? I mean, can we really expect to change how a nation thinks with one election? I think the problem is a wee bit bigger than that. If we can change even a small bit of the decision making process then the rest will follow. I'd settle for that.
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