Hi Arlo/Khaled
You know guys, I've had these chats with people who hold
beliefs that I think are pretty wacko, but I really find that the best
way to handle these debates is with respect and to simply state
that my own views are different and what the reasons are that
I have for holding my views and invite the other person to
explain their own reasoning and keep my opionion about them
being wacko to myself. This probably stops people going all
defensive and closing their minds to other ways of reasoning
about beliefs. It also saves me from being the twit who laughed
at the wacko who turned out to be a genius. Now when it comes
to school time we have to have a balance between allowing teachers
to teach what they think is important and students chosing to study
what they want to know more about. As for exam marks, well do
we not need to be looking more at whether a student has done the
research and considered the pros and cons of any argument before
reaching any specific conclusions.
David M
[Khaled]
So if a student says to his teacher, I know you are telling that the sun
is the center of our solar system, and that's what I am going to put as an
answer on the test because i don't want to fail, but deep down, i know you
are wrong. The earth is flat, it is the center of the solar system and we
never landed on the moon.
Is is the teacher's job to try to convince him or her otherwise.
[Arlo]
This is exactly my point. I say "yes". Fish would say "no". I can see the
allure of saying "we'll present every possible theory about every possible
thing and let you decide", but ultimately this will be the end of the
Academy. I'd say that this turns the Academy into a bookstore, but even a
bookstore makes decisions about what books have value and which ones don't
(value based on sales, not content, of course).
And yeah, what about the student who turns in a anthropology assignment
saying "I'm pretending to agree that dinosaurs once existed, but I believe
their bones to be the deception of Satan whose purpose is to make us
question God's Divine Plan". Does he pass? If so, then what's the point of
schools anyways. We have the Internet, why not just say "for six hours a
day you have to surf the net, whatever you believe at the end of the day
is fine with us, so long as it makes you happy"? Seems a lot easier than
organizing schools, no?
Of course, part of me doubts you'll ever really convince this student that
the sun is the center of our solar system. But if we don't try, then
knowledge has no value.
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
