Undoing the Diseducation of Millenials

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: introvert

Look, if he has a large number of students who more or less refuse to learn about Hammurabi because they feel that ancient Babylon is racist, sexist, etc., that is feeling based and not thought based. It's irrational.

That is not what he said.

In fact, the quote in the OP states he said the majority are willing to learn.

a reply to: Domo1

It is a real word if you bothered to look it up.

a reply to: kaylaluv

This would apply to your derailing - your feelings as to what he's clearly stating don't count as of any consequence.

But true to stereotype, I increasingly find that most of them cannot think, don’t know very much, and are enslaved to their appetites and feelings

a reply to: Lab4Us

Another non-secret, wars over religion have caused more death and suffering than any other rationale for war.

And Empire and resources are not the true goal; whipping up religious fervour for the slaughter of the "other"?
LOL

a reply to: introvert

They are willing to learn, but then something about what they are presented shuts them down because it makes them uncomfortable.

It would be like saying I'm willing to learn about Mark Twain ... right up until I crack open Huckleberry Finn and notice certain words he used which are deemed racist today even thought they were in common usage in Twain's day. At that point, I cannot read the book anymore and do not want to discuss it because ... racism.

That's what this professor is talking about.

a reply to: JimNasium

And that has what to do with this thread?

originally posted by: Dudemo5
Millennials believe the things they do because of factors at play long before they started college, set in motion by the generation bitching about them.

I'm a millennial and I absolutely agree with many things that older generations say about my generation, I feel many people my age are whiny little cry babies who think the world revolves around them and the solution to everything in life is to just maximize equality through never ending socialist policies. They believe these things because they lived through the global financial crisis and they think they're the first moral crusader generation who can solve all our economic problems by embracing economic policies that have consistently been shown to fail time and time again. They are drawn to such philosophies based on their emotions and feelings rather than a true logical analysis of the principles in question. This is a core point the teacher mentioned in their lecture:

Third, you should not bother to tell us how you feel about a topic. Tell us what you think about it. If you can’t think yet, that’s O.K.. Tell us what Aristotle thinks, or Hammurabi thinks, or H.L.A. Hart thinks. Borrow opinions from those whose opinions are worth considering. As Aristotle teaches us in the reading for today, men and women who are enslaved to the passions, who never rise above their animal natures by practicing the virtues, do not have worthwhile opinions. Only the person who exercises practical reason and attains practical wisdom knows how first to live his life, then to order his household, and finally, when he is sufficiently wise and mature, to venture opinions on how to bring order to the political community.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: introvert

They are willing to learn, but then something about what they are presented shuts them down because it makes them uncomfortable.

It would be like saying I'm willing to learn about Mark Twain ... right up until I crack open Huckleberry Finn and notice certain words he used which are deemed racist today even thought they were in common usage in Twain's day. At that point, I cannot read the book anymore and do not want to discuss it because ... racism.

That's what this professor is talking about.

And like I said, that is nothing new. All groups of people and generations do things such as that.

You are no different either.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: JimNasium

And that has what to do with this thread?

2 more "isms" for the list of excuses.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: kaylaluv

This would apply to your derailing - your feelings as to what he's clearly stating don't count as of any consequence.

But true to stereotype, I increasingly find that most of them cannot think, don’t know very much, and are enslaved to their appetites and feelings

Your opinion of my feelings don't count for anything either.

originally posted by: introvert

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: introvert

They are willing to learn, but then something about what they are presented shuts them down because it makes them uncomfortable.

It would be like saying I'm willing to learn about Mark Twain ... right up until I crack open Huckleberry Finn and notice certain words he used which are deemed racist today even thought they were in common usage in Twain's day. At that point, I cannot read the book anymore and do not want to discuss it because ... racism.

That's what this professor is talking about.

And like I said, that is nothing new. All groups of people and generations do things such as that.

You are no different either.

It depends on what you consider to be learning.

I learn quite a bit, but that doesn't mean it changes the views I held previously on a thing, and that's not what the professor is saying his students have to do either. To learn something doesn't mean to have your mind changed, it only means you understand all sides of an issue.

In this case, his students don't understand all sides because when they run into ideas they find uncomfortable, they slap a label on them and shut them out.

If you hold an opinion I don't like, that's fine so long as you understand the arguments of all sides.

I get the arguments of the other sides. I have read them and thought about them that I have rejected them over the years is not of willingness to learn so much as it is my personal belief that they are faulty conclusions. The professor himself said he would take rejections as long as the students could articulate counterpoints showing that they knew and understood both sides of the issue.

a reply to: ketsuko

I learn quite a bit, but that doesn't mean it changes the views I held previously on a thing, and that's not what the professor is saying his students have to do either. To learn something doesn't mean to have your mind changed, it only means you understand all sides of an issue.

You're absolutely right and I commend you for admitting that just because you learn something does not mean you change your views based on the evidence.

Again, most people are like that.

I get the arguments of the other sides. I have read them and thought about them that I have rejected them over the years is not of willingness to learn so much as it is my personal belief that they are faulty conclusions. The professor himself said he would take rejections as long as the students could articulate counterpoints showing that they knew and understood both sides of the issue.

And that is another problem. Too many people reject other arguments because they find them to be faulty conclusions. Not based on facts or evidence, but based on their personal biases and beliefs.

Religion is one example. Much of what religion teaches is highly illogical, yet it still finds it's way in to the arguments of otherwise intelligent people.

a reply to: dug88

The student is only as good as the teacher.

I learned more after i left high school because I taught myself. My English teacher in '99 literally just sat there with her glazed eyes over like she was sedated. The art teachers' method of education as pretty much 'sit down and draw $h!t' and Phys Ed was 'here's a soccer ball, knock yourselves out' in fact I spent more time skipping class the attending them because most of the teachers were hopeless (before you ask yes it was a public school.)

So it comes as a surprise to no one that I didn't graduate, but after that I crammed and if I went back to school then I would pass with flying colors. As for University well I would rather teach myself but it doesn't matter how much you know because no diploma, no dice.

a reply to: butcherguy

who paid for her to go to college ?

was it free fafsa college money?

then she shouldn't complain about paying taxes
wouldnt she want others to get get the same opportunity she had as well?

I find it amazing how quickly the baby boomers forget that they were dubbed the Me Generation. They act like every generation prior to Millennials walked in lock step. Ignoring the fact that they clashed with the Greatest Generation over ideology and societal problems all while being accused of being self-indulgent and narcissistic.

This is the cycle of the world. Old generation doesn't understand new generation so they label them all sorts of names. New generation rebels against old generation. New generation becomes old generation and the cycle repeats.

Congratulations boomers. You are now the squares and fascists you so vocally opposed in your youth.