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"At the start, at the education phase of learning, stuff needs to be engaging" Perhaps this is true in primary school, but I think in secondary school and defi
by outlace 11y ago
"At the start, at the education phase of learning, stuff needs to be engaging"
Perhaps this is true in primary school, but I think in secondary school and definitely in university, education can be engaging while remaining completely intellectually honest and devoid of outright appeals to emotion.
When education becomes about how to think and not what to think, it is inherently more interesting. I remember taking my first moral philosophy class in university, and much to my surprise, it was one of the most engaging classes I ever took precisely because it challenged everything I thought I knew. The professor could have spent the time teaching us what to think (e.g. just what the major moral philosophy theories are) but instead she used the socratic method and challenged each of us about what we already believed and how those philosophers like Kant came to their theories.
Indeed, intellectual and moral relativism is dangerous because it does the same thing religion does, it is a method of coming to knowledge/truth (an epistemology) that no one else has access to and/or that relies on subjective evidence (i.e. emotions/feelings).
- jfoutz 11y agoI don't think there's any dishonesty, i think we just like charismatic people more, and are more inclined to believe them. Maybe we don't look quite so hard for cracks in their arguments. Double blind peer review helps combat this, stylized writing helps combat this. We're just animals. we've got a million subtle biases. I agree with you, we should challenge what we know and believe. That ain't easy.
- outlace 11y agoI see this anti-intellectualism in the world as a major threat to human advancement (and perhaps existence). I am concerned that scientific and technological advancements are happening faster than intellectual and moral progress. If you give a bunch of monkeys a nuclear bomb, it's not going to end well. This is why I think promoting reason, promoting awareness of cognitive biases (as a result of our evolutionary past), and ridding ourselves of this notion that "standing up for what you believe" (regardless of its validity) is somehow a virtue, is among the most important (and difficult) projects of our time.
- ely-s 11y ago> I am concerned that scientific and technological advancements are happening faster than intellectual and moral progress. I couldn't agree more.