Some friends have asked me about my views on education and to clear up some confusion. The matter relates to a usenet debate in 1991 on education.
The confusion in the matter is in part to accidental editing by Prof. Herman Rubin. He, in his rush to make his insightful comments, did not clearly assign text to proper authors. For clarity, I first state my views. Then I quote the original as archived and searched by google and other search engines. Finally, I quote the text with clear attributions - hopefully, this will clear up who said what?
Without such clarification, I am falsely assumed to have written something that I never did. My views on education and schools were and are as follows: Education is not the monopoly of colleges and institutes. Education is a state of mind. It can come from experience. It can also come from an individual's curiosity, initiative and persistence to understand the world around him or her. After all, what we read in books was discovered by those who did not read those discoveries in books!! The great scientists, artists, thinkers of our history did not read the truths and theories that are taught to us in schools - they pondered on something, they pondered on what they observed, they pondered to understand the essential truths that resonate with what they felt, or saw, or heard, or sensed. This process made them more educated, more informed, more wise than they were before they began their journey. Education, therefore, is a state of mind; a state that follows contemplation of what our senses inform us and what our mind ponders upon.
Tapesh Yadav
(ps): please be careful in how you reply, trim and attribute other people on social media.
1. Herman Rubin Apr 4 1991, 11:38 pm Newsgroups: sci.edu, misc.education Followup-To: sci.edu From: hru...@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) Date: 4 Apr 91 16:05:45 GMT Local: Thurs, Apr 4 1991 10:05 am Subject: Re: educational requirements In article <1991apr4 .032343.13="" span="">...@world.std.com>, a...@world.std.com (Anthony R Wuersch) writes: > tya...@athena.mit.edu (Tapesh Yadav) writes: <1991apr4 .032343.13="" span="">>> [1] What is education ? > Education is how society legitimates the sorting and labeling of people. > For individuals, it is the accumulation of easily demonstrable credentials, > and the time devoted to this accumulation. You are talking about educational credentials, which, unfortunately, have essentially nothing to do with education. Nor does it have anything to do with time spent. It is this precise attitude which has led to people getting high school diplomas, and even college degrees, who cannot read. It is this attitude which has prevented those with mental ability from escaping from boredom to educational opportunity. It is this attitude which makes it impossible for someone with brains to have a reasonable opportunity to learn.
<1991apr4 .032343.13="" span="">> > [2] What is being educated ? > Being educated means having a recognized degree which repels challenges > from the less educated. If one tells an MIT-trained engineer that s/he > doesn't know engineering, then one makes a fool of oneself (usually), > or one is making an ironic comment. The possibility of a direct frontal > challenge is almost zero, unless one is better educated in engineering. > The educated person is a *different* person by virtue of their education; > to ignore this is to make a mistake or to insult the person. Education > is the major support for legitimate social diversity, and legitimate > social diversity --- which makes arbitrary domination the most stupid > social order --- is at the foundation of freedom as a social good. This is snobbery, pure and simple. [delete rest]
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1. Herman Rubin Apr 4 1991, 11:38 pm Newsgroups: sci.edu, misc.education
Followup-To: sci.edu From: hru...@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) Date: 4 Apr 91 16:05:45 GMT Local: Thurs, Apr 4 1991 10:05 am Subject: Re: educational requirements In article <1991apr4 .032343.13="" span="">...@world.std.com>, a...@world.std.com (Anthony R Wuersch) writes: > tya...@athena.mit.edu (Tapesh Yadav) writes:
Tapesh Yadav>> [1] What is education ?
Anthony R Wuersch replied> Education is how society legitimates the sorting and labeling of people. For individuals, it is the accumulation of easily demonstrable credentials, and the time devoted to this accumulation. You are talking about educational credentials, which, unfortunately, have essentially nothing to do with education. Nor does it have anything to do with time spent. It is this precise attitude which has led to people getting high school diplomas, and even college degrees, who cannot read. It is this attitude which has prevented those with mental ability from escaping from boredom to educational opportunity. It is this attitude which makes it impossible for someone with brains to have a reasonable opportunity to learn.
Tapesh Yadav>> [2] What is being educated ?
Anthony R Wuersch replied> Being educated means having a recognized degree which repels challenges from the less educated. If one tells an MIT-trained engineer that s/he doesn't know engineering, then one makes a fool of oneself (usually), or one is making an ironic comment. The possibility of a direct frontal challenge is almost zero, unless one is better educated in engineering. The educated person is a *different* person by virtue of their education; to ignore this is to make a mistake or to insult the person. Education is the major support for legitimate social diversity, and legitimate social diversity --- which makes arbitrary domination the most stupid > social order --- is at the foundation of freedom as a social good.
This is snobbery, pure and simple. [delete rest] [More of the same deleted.] -- Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399 Phone: (317)494-6054 hru...@l.cc.purdue.edu
Autumn in Rocky Mountains
The valleys are fed by fast moving water streams. The air feels cooler. The weather can change to wintery conditions quickly. I stopped at several locations. Enjoyed some hike and the challenge.
