tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post7545082821818934678..comments2024-03-19T05:26:43.471-04:00Comments on Half an Hour: Post-Truth and Fake NewsStephen Downeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-32368876453454406032016-12-10T23:07:57.278-05:002016-12-10T23:07:57.278-05:00Meanwhile in Scotland:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/p...Meanwhile in Scotland:<br />http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-12-10/scotland/knox-s-schooling-for-all-enlightened-the-scots-nation-c0t37c605<br /><br />Old prof blames older dead chap (well known misogynist) for starting education problems 400 years ago.paul martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08882006528023573747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-50645884707791524502016-11-22T14:05:52.731-05:002016-11-22T14:05:52.731-05:00Yes, definitely increase exposure to critical thin... Yes, definitely increase exposure to critical thinking rather than ban sources of miss-information. Ultimately, every person needs to have the ability to sift for accurate information to make their own decisions. Maybe if there was a way to cost-out decisions made in the fun-scape of the fictions we tell ourselves we could see the waste value in living only by BS? Students could create a "balanced" portfolio where the pure pleasure of swimming in recreational ignorance could be offset by the value of actually getting things right. Like stopping at a sign declaring: Bridge is Out! or admitting you are wrong early in the process can save hours of unlearning effort. (This is not to say there is no pleasure in being wrong, only that a well reflected contradiction provides a deeper level of pleasure).<br />I think it is vital that critical thinking be emphasized in school. Oddly, my experience has been that the arts are where this skill emerges and I'm curious if the notion of the Scientific Method as a structured process for determining accuracy has failed us? That we are unquestionably RIGHT because we have access to the best testing methods in the universe and don't even need to prove it:-) Scott Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16557119002863457695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-12519892235244717692016-11-22T10:56:56.843-05:002016-11-22T10:56:56.843-05:00Hi, Stephen. I agree with your post and feel that...Hi, Stephen. I agree with your post and feel that this is perhaps *the* most important issue of our time. After all, if we cannot agree on reliable sources of objective truth, how can we possibly discuss and agree on *anything*? <br /><br />My only quibble with your suggestions concerns the "obviousness" of blocking a site like The Onion. I enjoy The Onion and feel that political and social satire can have a salutary effect on our thinking by highlighting our own foibles in a humorous way. For example, one of their recent articles "Area Liberal No Longer Recognizes Fanciful, Wildly Inaccurate Mental Picture Of Country He Lives In" (http://www.theonion.com/article/area-liberal-no-longer-recognizes-fanciful-wildly--54670) caused me to laugh, ruefully, at the willful distortions in my own view of the rest of my beloved country...<br /><br />The problem is that the proliferation of truly fake news which its authors maliciously purport to be true has challenged the public's ability to identify and appreciate satire and parody. The only way to combat this is with better, more effective universal education, but since that is the goal of your entire blog it is obvious that there is no simple or immediate solution.<br /><br />-Verne Morland<br />Dayton, Ohio USAD. Verne Morlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08830829701867956507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-37874887625105447882016-11-21T19:24:57.982-05:002016-11-21T19:24:57.982-05:00There seems to be a fondness for easy-to-remember ...There seems to be a fondness for easy-to-remember "facts" to use as ammo in a conversational shoot-out. Helps if they have shock value and a tone of insider'ness as in: "not everyone knows this." Scott Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16557119002863457695noreply@blogger.com