5 ms·
This is a sad farce and all, but the reality is that it doesn't take 850 books to educate a child in the humanities. It shouldn't take more than three: - 1984
by legerdemain 5y ago
This is a sad farce and all, but the reality is that it doesn't take 850 books to educate a child in the humanities. It shouldn't take more than three:
- 1984 by George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair) -- what evil looks like
- The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius -- the "theory" of a good life
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig -- the "practice" of a good life
ZAMM can be optionally replaced or supplemented by Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Robert Bach.
- klyrs 5y agoThat really is a sad farce. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if there were only three books. You might try reading some more -- humanity is really quite fascinating, and your list only covers an extremely narrow slice.
- legerdemain 5y agoYou might have as well written "please continue practicing your recorder flute as an adult, it is really quite fascinating." At some point you have read the instructive books you needed to read and solidified the principles you want to live by. Anything after that is whimsical personal recreation, raising the question why we waste money forcing children to do it. Because English teachers believe their little hobby deserves a larger audience?
- klyrs 5y agoIn grade 5, I read my first thousand-page book (Pillars of the Earth), and your reading list would have kept me occupied for less than a month. I note your derision towards both music and literature, and pride in the depth of your ignorance. We are very different people, and that's okay, but schools aren't meant to be tailored precisely to you. They exist for all of the other students, too. Some of which will, yes, grow to be English or Music teachers. A random selection of humanities books I enjoyed in middle and high school, which you might enjoy and/or learn from: Guns, Germs and Steel The Art of War A People's History of the United States The Prince Catch-22
- legerdemain 5y agoI welcome your criticism if your concept of music is limited to the recorder and your concept of reading is limited to assigned class reading. Otherwise, what are you even talking about? Precocious children like you can read as much as they want and whatever they want. The point is how much of that reading absolutely must be assigned to them in class and with what purpose.
- irrational 5y agoWell, apparently I’ve never been educated in the humanities. I’ve never even heard of the middle one.
- laputan_machine 5y agoYou've never read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations? Fill your boots: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2680/2680-h/2680-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2680/2680-h/2680-h.htm
- irrational 5y agoNope, never heard of it and I’m nearly 50.
- legerdemain 5y agoIt's a monument of classical writing. Good on you for admitting your ignorance, but not as good for insisting on it? Like, it raises questions of what other classical monuments you are unaware of. Cicero? Ovid? Plutarch?
- irrational 5y agoLet's be honest. What percentage of the general population do you think are aware of those, beyond maybe hearing the names once or twice? 1%? .5%? I'd guess much much less.
- legerdemain 5y agoYour point earlier was either to say that you are literally uneducated in the humanities and proud of it, or that you do consider yourself well-educated, despite not having even heard of Marcus Aurelius. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the latter. As someone who is well-educated in the humanities, do you believe that most people receive a thorough and effective education? Why did you find it worthwhile to say that Cicero/Ovid/Plutarch are obscure for them? Alternatively, it is surprising that someone like yourself, with some baseline of a humanities education, has dedicated time to learning about an author of light whimsy ahead of an author of a readable, relevant, extremely thoroughly time-tested, and influential work of moral philosophy. Marcus Aurelius is perhaps the embodiment of the title of philosopher king, and a lot of people would benefit from reading him.
- kthejoker2 5y agoI like this dumb idea, how about 3 different books Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams - what evil really looks like Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail - the "theory" of a good life I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - the "practice" of a good life I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings can be optionally replaced by Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
- legerdemain 5y agoI don't think your first two are as foundational, as teachable, or as uniquely relevant to students in the present moment in the US as Orwell and Marcus Aurelius. But note that none of your picks appear on that list of 850 books they're banning in Texas.