Eric Hoffer, who was a working man all his life and self-educated, wrote short books made up of short chapters. His first was published when he was 65.
Hoffer got a professorship at the Berkeley campus of the University of California in the 1960s. He promptly quit because, he said, “These students can’t THINK!”
Sound familiar?
He was appointed to the Civil Rights Commission. He soon quit that, too, saying “Civil Rights is a FRAUD!”
Hoffer said he had an odd way of doing research for his writings. He would go to a library, look randomly at things, and if something didn’t apply to what he was writing, he would stop writing it.
I am similar to Hoffer. So when Texas Holdem and Online Casino send me random platitudes, many of them apply to what I am thinking about.
I’ve cut out the rest.
#1 by Prometheus on 10/23/2004 - 12:06 am
Thinking is dangerous, as people may come to conclusions that you may not want them to come to. I found during my school education, and independant mind was sometimes a liability, especially if you disagreed with poor ‘teacher’. Much easier to just accept what you were told.
People do not know how to think, its all done for them, which for most is fine and dandy. People hold onto idiotic political ideas full of contradictions because they peiced together ideas from others into a messy patchwork. People think they are correct because its sounds correct, and for most that is all they have to go on.
If the education could teach people how to think, to teach people how to come to their own conclusions, we may see a slightly more informed populace, and quite possibly a healthier civilization.
#2 by Don on 10/23/2004 - 11:38 am
RE: “These students can’t THINK!”
Was Eric Hoffer confronting an environmental problem (bad education)or a genetic predisposition?
I suppose I would have to believe that only a small percentage of the population is capable of independent thinking. By small I mean under 1%. When William Pierce finally came to a realization of this reality he started using the term lemmings.
Is this bad? Remember “too many chiefs” and “not enough indians”?
So we must keep this firmly in mind. We must not try to make the masses into independent thinkers – they cannot do that – we must find good leaders for them to follow. And then we must promote those leaders. Passionately.
Take me to your leader!