Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Does College Make Us Less Equipped to Change the World?
AlterNet / By Sara Robinson
Does College Make Us Less Equipped to Change the World?
Some of the things we learned back at the Big U don't work at all on the political street.
February 13, 2012 |
In this great meritocracy of ours, those of us whove made it through college are encouraged to feel like were something special. And its no doubt true that a university education confers certain intellectual (if not always economic) advantages. By the time youre handed your BA or BS, youve sharpened your critical thinking skills; have learned to see big pictures; can write a decent essay on command; dont feel lost in a museum, library or concert hall; and might even know enough of a second language to navigate the subway and get yourself to the nearest hostel. Furthermore: its called liberal education these days because generally, the more of it you have, the more liberal you tend to be.
All good and worthy stuff. But the more time I spend around political progressives, the more convinced I am that when it comes to doing good retail politics, our fancy educations get in the way almost as often as they help us. Specifically, there are things we picked up back at the Old U biases, preferences, habits of mind that are so reflexive we long ago lost any awareness of them, but that were constantly tripping over whenever we try to present our ideas to the rest of the country.
It sounds weird and counterintuitive, but in my work with progressive organizations, Ive noticed some specific ways in which the kind of thinking we learned in our classrooms actually makes us kinda dumb politically. Here are a few places college grads often seem to get led astray by their own educations.
Originality doesn't matter
In the academy, original thought that adds to the body of human knowledge is the most prized commodity there is. That, and only that, is what they hand out PhDs for. Its also what gets you an A in most classrooms. Your professor doesnt want warmed-over ideas pulled from the book or your classmates or the kids back at the dorm. She wants you to think for yourself to exercise your brain, do some original analysis and synthesis, and come up with some fresh insights on the subject. Cribbing ideas from somewhere else is lazy at best; at worst, its plagiarism and itll get you kicked out of school. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/visions/154091/does_college_make_us_less_equipped_to_change_the_world/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 1171 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (3)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Does College Make Us Less Equipped to Change the World? (Original Post)
marmar
Feb 2012
OP
CAPHAVOC
(1,138 posts)1. Changing the world?
We better start right here first.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)2. It is the ignorant, irrational, and stupid who determine elections, that is nothing new.
We lose because we try to be "reasonable", the sheeple doesn't do "reasonable".