It is somehow fitting for the oxymoronic age in which we live that we call the uniform distribution of mediocrity, progress.
Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to watch Ken Burns’ documentary on the Civil War cannot help but be taken aback by the simple eloquence of men of little formal education and the surpassing eloquence of some of the educated.
Illiteracy was widespread 150 years ago. Yet, those who were literate, even with just a fourth grade education had such a facility with words that this blogger is put to shame.
Take for instance the letter of one Samuel M. Potter to Cynthia Potter, December 10, 1862. Potter, writing to his wife makes evident his lack of education but yet his writing elevates. He writes… Continue Reading @ National Catholic Register>>>>
March 19, 2011 at 1:05 pm
when I was in Jamaica (for a few months) some 25 years ago, in a poor school in a very poor neighbourhood, I taught the grade 5 students to play Hangman. The first word chosen by a student – in a school with few desks and no books – was tintinnabulation. Spelt correctly, guessed in 5 moves, and known by all present. They knew their catechism too.
March 19, 2011 at 1:41 pm
The "dumbing down of everything" is essential for lies to flourish…. men who think reasonably will always be able to identify truth, and at least have the opportunity to choose. Those that cannot think, become slaves to opinion born of emotion. This is the essence of propaganda and the control it asserts.
March 19, 2011 at 3:14 pm
I agree with Macmooski. The whole philosophy behind mandatory schooling – the goal espoused by the proponents thereof – was to school the majority of citizens, not to educate them. The end-product of such schooling is a thoughtless consumer, a dependant cog in a giant machine. The less they think about the big picture the better. Those who support mandatory schooling, as a general rule, don't want the majority of citizens to be well-educated; they want them to "know their place," as decided by their betters, and to stay in it.