There's been a plethora of rubbish English in the campaign and 'alt right' as a euphemism for the KKK was one of the most appalling examples but 'alternative facts' gives us another one which is equally troubling in a different way. There's a sudden precious fascination with 'alternative facts' and, after some time, a few recognized it as a simple restatement of 'doublespeak' from "Brave New World" which Aldous Huxley wrote in 1931. Not quite a century a later, the hipsters thought they came up with something new.
Ed: this goes back to the same lament about education, right?
Of course it does since "Brave New World" was required reading in the early high school time so why is it news to anyone. I have a copy of the book which I have intended to reread to ensure my thinking on it is clear, for all the general reasons for rereading a book. I offered it to someone who had not read it but there was little interest. That I attribute to the Demon Online with its much faster gratification if less long-term engagement.
The same question presents as to why wasn't the book in this curriculum when it was present in the one in my own reference.
This article will take it to a different tangent since it may seem this and a previous article angle toward a national standard for an educational baseline but, here at the Rockhouse, that's seen as an elitist position which ignores the reality of the bell curve in intellectual ability. Some will benefit highly from an education in such philosophy but others will regard it as useless to their purpose and don't be so dismissive about craftsman walking away from it. Most of the time craftsmen work in silence and few have as much time for consideration of philosophical matters.
Ed: you want a national standard which conforms to the bell curve?
Now you're cooking with gas, Professor Pink.
Ed: how is that any less arrogant than a flat line standard?
Because the purpose is to provide for the needs of the kid rather than satisfying an arbitrary algorithm to mandate false equivalence.
In the Silas School, cellphones will be collected at the door and they won't be permitted until the upper classes, if even then. Back to the earliest times, the deal between parents and the school has been the kid's education will not be interrupted for anything except medical, family, or police emergencies but now an interruption can come when Dudley Doright wants to text Mary Jane about his fervor for seeing her pretty pink panties.
That will not happen in Silas School.
Ed: you seriously think you can stop Dudley Doright from thinking about Mary Jane's pretty pink panties?
He can think all he likes but if he will do anything about it then he will do it on his own time.
The purpose in the edict is to ensure kids learn their maths before they start using calculators and the reason is selfish. Any old geezer out there was taught to do maths without calculators since we learned our times tables by rote, etc. That ability became intuitive for us so we know the change to expect when we present some cash at the checkout counter and it's horrifying to hear the kid when he sees you know the expected change and he asks, mystified, "How did you do that?"
That will not happen in the Silas School.
The floating baseline we want is to address who can handle or benefit from this or that level of education but fundamental to all of that is a level of education which is required by everyone and that's not being met by a simple binary polarization of yes or no to states. I know that's not the general thinking within the Rockhouse Wrecking Crew but we do see politicians in which they see everything as binary and that brings us all the way back.
Black is white.
War is peace.
The government is your friend and 'alternative facts' sound precious but the term underlies a much more depressing reality in why were they not aware of this already.
Ed: this goes back to the same lament about education, right?
Of course it does since "Brave New World" was required reading in the early high school time so why is it news to anyone. I have a copy of the book which I have intended to reread to ensure my thinking on it is clear, for all the general reasons for rereading a book. I offered it to someone who had not read it but there was little interest. That I attribute to the Demon Online with its much faster gratification if less long-term engagement.
The same question presents as to why wasn't the book in this curriculum when it was present in the one in my own reference.
This article will take it to a different tangent since it may seem this and a previous article angle toward a national standard for an educational baseline but, here at the Rockhouse, that's seen as an elitist position which ignores the reality of the bell curve in intellectual ability. Some will benefit highly from an education in such philosophy but others will regard it as useless to their purpose and don't be so dismissive about craftsman walking away from it. Most of the time craftsmen work in silence and few have as much time for consideration of philosophical matters.
Ed: you want a national standard which conforms to the bell curve?
Now you're cooking with gas, Professor Pink.
Ed: how is that any less arrogant than a flat line standard?
Because the purpose is to provide for the needs of the kid rather than satisfying an arbitrary algorithm to mandate false equivalence.
In the Silas School, cellphones will be collected at the door and they won't be permitted until the upper classes, if even then. Back to the earliest times, the deal between parents and the school has been the kid's education will not be interrupted for anything except medical, family, or police emergencies but now an interruption can come when Dudley Doright wants to text Mary Jane about his fervor for seeing her pretty pink panties.
That will not happen in Silas School.
Ed: you seriously think you can stop Dudley Doright from thinking about Mary Jane's pretty pink panties?
He can think all he likes but if he will do anything about it then he will do it on his own time.
The purpose in the edict is to ensure kids learn their maths before they start using calculators and the reason is selfish. Any old geezer out there was taught to do maths without calculators since we learned our times tables by rote, etc. That ability became intuitive for us so we know the change to expect when we present some cash at the checkout counter and it's horrifying to hear the kid when he sees you know the expected change and he asks, mystified, "How did you do that?"
That will not happen in the Silas School.
The floating baseline we want is to address who can handle or benefit from this or that level of education but fundamental to all of that is a level of education which is required by everyone and that's not being met by a simple binary polarization of yes or no to states. I know that's not the general thinking within the Rockhouse Wrecking Crew but we do see politicians in which they see everything as binary and that brings us all the way back.
Black is white.
War is peace.
The government is your friend and 'alternative facts' sound precious but the term underlies a much more depressing reality in why were they not aware of this already.
2 comments:
The term now only a week into common use, 'alternative fact', was introduced by the Trump Administration last week. It is an oxymoron and doesn't work as a valid statement. A fact is defined as something that has occurred, is correct and can be verified. The word alternative implies a choice. Since a fact, is a fact, there can not be an alternative fact. It would be equal to the statement, 'Truth in lies'. It was presented as fact recently, that the current inaugural crowd was not the largest in history. The statement was backed by observable and verifiable data and information. The current administration presented as 'alternative fact' that their inaugural crowd was the largest in history. Unfortunately, what was presented by the current administation was easily determined to not be factual from observable and verifiable data and information. Even in such a relatively insignificant matter, the current administration needs the courage to provide observable, correct and verifiable information to establish or dispute a fact. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience and the last we hear of alternative facts. Setting a good example, to prevent those who disseminate,'Fake News', will be needed for this administration that has rightly made it an issue.
Fair enough on all points and not a tiny reason to quibble with any of that.
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