My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation. They are the culmination of western civilization, a civilization that has forgotten nearly everything about itself, and as a result, has achieved near-perfect indifference to its own culture.
It’s difficult to gain admissions to the schools where I’ve taught – Princeton, Georgetown, and now Notre Dame. Students at these institutions have done what has been demanded of them: they are superb test-takers, they know exactly what is needed to get an A in every class (meaning that they rarely allow themselves to become passionate and invested in any one subject); they build superb resumes. They are respectful and cordial to their elders, though easy-going if crude with their peers. They respect diversity (without having the slightest clue what diversity is) and they are experts in the arts of non-judgmentalism (at least publically). They are the cream of their generation, the masters of the universe, a generation-in-waiting to run America and the world.
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But ask them some basic questions about the civilization they will be inheriting, and be prepared for averted eyes and somewhat panicked looks. Who fought in the Peloponnesian War? Who taught Plato, and whom did Plato teach? How did Socrates die? Raise your hand if you have read both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Canterbury Tales? Paradise Lost? The Inferno?
Who was Saul of Tarsus? What were the 95 theses, who wrote them, and what was their effect? Why does the Magna Carta matter? How and where did Thomas Becket die? Who was Guy Fawkes, and why is there a day named after him? What did Lincoln say in his Second Inaugural? His first Inaugural? How about his third Inaugural? What are the Federalist Papers?
Some students, due most often to serendipitous class choices or a quirky old-fashioned teacher, might know a few of these answers. But most students have not been educated to know them. At best, they possess accidental knowledge, but otherwise are masters of systematic ignorance. It is not their “fault” for pervasive ignorance of western and American history, civilization, politics, art and literature. They have learned exactly what we have asked of them – to be like mayflies, alive by happenstance in a fleeting present.
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Our students’ ignorance is not a failing of the educational system – it is its crowning achievement. Efforts by several generations of philosophers and reformers and public policy experts — whom our students (and most of us) know nothing about — have combined to produce a generation of know-nothings. The pervasive ignorance of our students is not a mere accident or unfortunate but correctible outcome, if only we hire better teachers or tweak the reading lists in high school. It is the consequence of a civilizational commitment to civilizational suicide. The end of history for our students signals the End of History for the West.
During my lifetime, lamentation over student ignorance has been sounded by the likes of E.D. Hirsch, Allan Bloom, Mark Bauerlein and Jay Leno, among many others. But these lamentations have been leavened with the hope that appeal to our and their better angels might reverse the trend (that’s an allusion to Lincoln’s first inaugural address, by the way). E.D. Hirsch even worked up a self-help curriculum, a do-it yourself guide on how to become culturally literate, imbued with the can-do American spirit that cultural defenestration could be reversed by a good reading list in the appendix. Broadly missing is sufficient appreciation that this ignorance is the intended consequence of our educational system, a sign of its robust health and success.
@flowerlady61 I have another account I’m fairly active on and I’ve been actively blocking - even those who seemed quite lovely before their antisemitic views came to the fore.
You never forget being in a music ensemble. You never forget how the music makes you feel. You never forget the people you form lifelong friendships with. You never forget the collective endeavour which brings so much joy. You never forget the person all of this helps you become.
Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly—and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.
They’re not ‘just’ music lessons. For many young people, they’re the impetus that leads to a dramatic change in their academic & personal lives. Learning an instrument, and everything that comes with it, is a holistic learning & growth experience like no other. It’s essential.
it’s not like appreciation of any great/profound art is being spoiled here. it’s only pop.
*snerk*
i am so glad classical concerts don’t permit this kind of thing. https://t.co/TYaWL7XvPF
@ACurrentAffair9 Your story regarding the tragic bus crash in Melbourne has been very poorly delivered & is disrespectful to the victims Children are not baby goats! Count the number of times you said “kids”! It sounds atrocious. Grow up.
i swear this tropical heat is the reason why tropical cultures didn’t produce any major profound works of philosophy, art, music, literature. all one can do is sit there and sweat and think ‘omg hot’.
We have lost a genius by the death of Barry Humphries. He will be so missed. A wonderful human being- a friend and my heart goes out to Lizzie - Barrie’s widow.
A Chief Rabbi, in a Church, on a Shabbat morning?
The Chief Rabbi talks us through what will be happening this Shabbat as he represents the Jewish communities of the Commonwealth at the coronation of King Charles III.
Feast your actual eyes on these beauties! Sooo excited to use them on membership packs and letters and parcels and postcards! All from the fabulous @PieceOfThe_Past! #prettystamps 🤩✉️❤️