Schooling

A most fundamental idea underlies much of what I've been saying over the past few posts, namely that of all nature's creatures, it is humans who are in most need of education. The state of affairs today, our state of economy, the pressing issues that we face are all a result of a lack of education.

Don't get me wrong, we do a fairly good job of schooling ... well, provided you live in a wealthy enough school district or can afford to go to a well-endowed, hence expensive college or university. You can be pretty sure your schooling will be complete. You'll know your multiplication tables, you'll be able to recite important facts of history, you'll know the basics of the natural sciences, and you will have learned that objectivity, that facts, are much more important than values, that values belong in the personal, not the public sphere. You'll be able to spout off definitions of "important" concepts, that is concepts that have been deemed important by acknowledged authorities. You will have learned to accept what others tell you if their credentials are impeccable enough. In other words, you will have learned to talk, but not to listen. You will have learned to make statements, but not necessarily ask questions.

And that, my friends, is the tip-off ... that's how you know you're dealing with a schooled, but not necessarily educated, person. We've nearly lost the ability to question. In fact, questioning has become a mere signal for trouble-making. It is the uncomfortable, difficult student who questions. The good student recites his lessons without error. The good student accepts that authority of the teacher. The good student is ambitious and anxious to please the teacher. And we've got plenty of well-schooled individuals running around, I can assure you. I have to deal with them every single day.

For the most part, they are very nice people. They tend to think they know more than they do, but by and large they are well intended and sincere. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, they never learned that the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and that sincerity, in and of itself, is an excuse for action.