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There is nothing wrong with the fact that he didn't know it either. Only willful ignorance is a sin, not accidental ignorance. Nobody can know everything, you s
by samolang 13y ago
There is nothing wrong with the fact that he didn't know it either. Only willful ignorance is a sin, not accidental ignorance. Nobody can know everything, you shouldn't judge someone for prioritizing different knowledge than you.
- dllthomas 13y agoThough some encouragement to sufficiently prioritize basic facts about significant events in history might not be inappropriate.
- jlgreco 13y agoThe state of history education is abysmal, at least in the US. I sure as hell was not taught enough (and most of what I was taught, prior to high school history classes, was whitewashed propaganda. Things like "The Russian space program was awful", "The Native Americans and settlers got along swimmingly", or "Columbus thought the Earth was flat". Stuff no adult familiar with the material believes for a moment, but that we teach children anyway.)
- weinzierl 13y agoYou probably meant to say "Columbus thought the Earth was flat".
- mehrzad 13y ago>we teach children Keyword being "children." Starting in middle school through high school, you hear much less biased info.
- jlgreco 13y agoYes, though by that time much of the classroom time that we have available for teaching history has been wasted.
- sillysaurus 13y agoKeyword being "children." Starting in middle school through high school, you hear much less biased info. This isn't true. I was being taught worthless fables at both of the highschools I attended.
- samolang 13y agoKnowing that Hitler heavily leveraged propaganda to further his cause might be of use to an individual. I don't think knowing Goebbels' name is necessary for learning such lessons though.
- jlgreco 13y agoPossibly true, though I would question the quality of any lesson about Nazi propaganda that did not mention Goebbels' name. If you are doing the "3-lesson 10,000 foot overview" of the 1930s and 40s then I can see how Goebbels' would escape mention, but otherwise he is definitely in the top 10 figures to mention.
- samolang 13y agoI don't know about you, but I tend to forget details that I don't regularly use. I have learned about Goebbels and forgotten his name at least once. I focus primarily on remembering the lessons learned because I know I am likely to forget details such as names. I can usually remember the overall lesson learned because it resonates with my intuition and world knowledge.
- dllthomas 13y agoNot knowing the names of prominent figures is some (quite inconclusive) evidence of insufficient familiarity. Any encouragement of the type I was speaking of should recognize that (and should be polite on other counts as well, of course) or is not entirely appropriate.