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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (48156)	5/24/2002 12:25:12 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I do not think that systems design would be any more conducive to critical thinking than mathematics. Critical thinking is different than finding elegant solutions to problems. I mention those authors specifically because they demonstrate how to engage in dialectic, which is the proper term for critical thinking. On the other, I suppose it is hit or miss. I was just assuming for the sake of argument that there was some exercise of critical intelligence in most liberal arts programs, and some others. Then, noting that it is nevertheless thin, I assume that there is decay as there is generally with skills that are not kept honed, and thus account for experience......

To: Lane3 who wrote (48156)	5/26/2002 5:20:36 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

Robert Hutchins, writing in about 1955, was concerned then that Western Civilization had basically abandoned what he (and others) termed the Great Conversation. I am tempted to agree with him that it has at least gone into the doldrums. I'm not sure why, but there are IMO some culprits. In no particular order, they include: TV, which occupies time without contributing much if anything to mental ability and rational discourse; specialization, which means that few people are able to converse or write intelligently over the broad range of Western knowledge; a concerted attack on dead white males and a demand for inclusion of authors even when they have not withstood the test of time and are not part of the conversation but replace those authors who are; a focus in philosophy, mathematics, etc. on writing for peers instead of for the general educated public; the rise of jargon, which is related to the last point; and the change in emphasis in education away from educating people to understand what it means to live a good life and be a good citizen to educating for the purpose of making a living. There are some other reasons, I think, but these are among the culprits. I'm not as pessimistic long term as Hutchins was. After all, manking survivied the dark ages when the conversation basically stopped. I just hope this hiatus isn't that long.