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The Dying Art of Disagreement

posted by martyb on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the No-Way! dept.

Phoenix666 submitted:

What was it that one learned through a great books curriculum? Certainly not "conservatism" in any contemporary American sense of the term. We were not taught to become American patriots, or religious pietists, or to worship what Rudyard Kipling called "the Gods of the Market Place." We were not instructed in the evils of Marxism, or the glories of capitalism, or even the superiority of Western civilization.

As I think about it, I'm not sure we were taught anything at all. What we did was read books that raised serious questions about the human condition, and which invited us to attempt to ask serious questions of our own. Education, in this sense, wasn't a "teaching" with any fixed lesson. It was an exercise in interrogation.

To listen and understand; to question and disagree; to treat no proposition as sacred and no objection as impious; to be willing to entertain unpopular ideas and cultivate the habits of an open mind — this is what I was encouraged to do by my teachers at the University of Chicago.

It's what used to be called a liberal education.

The University of Chicago showed us something else: that every great idea is really just a spectacular disagreement with some other great idea.

Bret Stephens's speech warrants a full read. It makes valuable points that we all need to hear, even on SN.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Disagree) by Gaaark on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:49AM (8 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:49AM (#573726) Journal

    Queue the Monty Python jokes!

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  • (Score: 4, Disagree) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:53AM

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:53AM (#573728) Homepage Journal

    What, you mean like "Disagreement is pining for the fjords"?

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.

  • (Score: 5, Disagree) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 27 2017, @11:14AM (3 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Wednesday September 27 2017, @11:14AM (#573735) Homepage
    "Cue", not "Queue", you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

    • (Score: 2, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:06PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:06PM (#573750)

      I came here for an argument!

      • (Score: 2, Disagree) by Unixnut on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:40PM

        by Unixnut (5779) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:40PM (#573910)

        > I came here for an argument!

        Aha! No, you want room 12A, next door.

      • (Score: 3, Disagree) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:42PM

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @05:42PM (#573911) Journal

        Oh, I'm sorry, this is abuse. ... ... ...stupid git.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...

  • (Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:04PM (#573749)

    Jokes don't like to wait in a row.

  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by MostCynical on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:13PM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:13PM (#573752) Journal

    here's a queue:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dVkdCQCAS0 [youtube.com]

    Or, on-topic:
    https://vimeo.com/25921512 [vimeo.com]

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex