Re:Novelist warns against utilitarian trends in higher educa...
by rquantz on Thursday November 05, 2015 @12:53PM
(#10514890)
That's silly, of course it can be taught, and it can even be measured if that's so important to you. Can this person read a text and understand the arguments that are being made? Can this person tease out subtexts and narratives and ideologies in the world around them? Can they write and make themselves understood? Can they follow an argument to its logical conclusions or pick apart failures in an argument? Can they recognize aesthetic and technical choices, or stylistic and intellectual affinities within a work of art? These are all skills necessary to be engaged in civic and cultural life, and they can absolutely be taught.
Re:Novelist warns against utilitarian trends in higher educa...
by MisterBastahrd on Thursday November 05, 2015 @11:57AM
(#10514431)
I'd rather be around people who have some understanding of the world they live in than a bunch of automatons who can code but are luddites in all other endeavors.
There is a lot of talk about how good it is to do this- yes, of course. But there is little talk of whether it is possible or how to make it possible. Comprehension of, say, math: that's something that can more-or-less be measured by a test. How do you measure someone having the attitude of a free thinker? Until practicalities are talked about, I can't see any of this as anything but posturing. There should be pushes for investigation like CFAR does.