IPOD
RADIO
I'm sitting here, waiting for students who I know won't be coming to show up. Their papers are due today, but they have the option of emailing them to me by 5:00 PM today. I'm nice that way.
I'm thinking about what we talked about in class yesterday. It was a rather pointless class, since nothing I told them would make much difference in their papers, and they were mostly just filling in the last participation grade. But we got to talking about Critical Thinking.
This is something rapidly disappearing. Several of them had never heard of what critical thinking is, or how it could apply to their lives, until I started pointing out the people who profit from the severe lack of critical thought. The Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the CNN talking heads, the entire Faux Newz Network . . . all rely on people not questioning the world around them.
People are so used to taking things at face value, as they're presented by people who have only their own best interest at heart. We think "gee, she said that on TV, it must be true" or "he's on the radio, it must be true" or even "they printed that in the newspaper, it must be true." Thankfully, most people are smart enough to remember that the Internet is usually NOT a reliable source for truth and fact, but some do.
I asked my students why they thought it was, people no longer being skeptical of the world as presented by the news. At least they got that part right: it's too hard.
It's too hard to bother checking up on the news.
It's too hard to get a second angle.
It's too hard to check up on the character and reliability of the people giving their opinions.
It's too hard to come up with opinions, when someone else's will do just fine.
Fucking pathetic
I'm thinking about what we talked about in class yesterday. It was a rather pointless class, since nothing I told them would make much difference in their papers, and they were mostly just filling in the last participation grade. But we got to talking about Critical Thinking.
This is something rapidly disappearing. Several of them had never heard of what critical thinking is, or how it could apply to their lives, until I started pointing out the people who profit from the severe lack of critical thought. The Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the CNN talking heads, the entire Faux Newz Network . . . all rely on people not questioning the world around them.
People are so used to taking things at face value, as they're presented by people who have only their own best interest at heart. We think "gee, she said that on TV, it must be true" or "he's on the radio, it must be true" or even "they printed that in the newspaper, it must be true." Thankfully, most people are smart enough to remember that the Internet is usually NOT a reliable source for truth and fact, but some do.
I asked my students why they thought it was, people no longer being skeptical of the world as presented by the news. At least they got that part right: it's too hard.
It's too hard to bother checking up on the news.
It's too hard to get a second angle.
It's too hard to check up on the character and reliability of the people giving their opinions.
It's too hard to come up with opinions, when someone else's will do just fine.
Fucking pathetic
