On 29 Nov 99, at 10:33, John Gunkler wrote:
> Rick Karash writes:
>
> >But, there's also a question about people on the street: As a successful
> >species, why do we human beings appear so inconsistent in what we believe
> >and how we form beliefs? Why such lack of rigor? Lack of reflection. I
> >think what we are writing about is basic stuff, but somehow it's still an
> >eye-opener for many intelligent, successful adults today. I envision a
> >future in which we wouldn't talk about this on LO, and would never
> >consider including this in a management curriculum... Because everyone
> >already knows it and acts this way.
>
> I'm puzzled about this too. Of course the usual response (and it's
> probably right, as far as it goes) is that our public education system is
> failing us.
I think there's two questions in Rick's post. 1) the issue of
inconsistency and 2) the issue of lack of rigor and reflection. Quite
different questions.
But the deeper question is "Why is education failing us?"
I don't accept the question and its presuppositions, and of course each
generation makes the same remark about education with respect to the more
recent generation.
The answer is completely simple, perhaps. 1) The world is currently set up
in such complex ways, that were we to be reflective and driven more by
logic, we would never do anything at all (sometimes I wonder if that's the
case with some people anyway), and 2) there is certainly some suggestion
re: cognitive science that this is the case and that there is a biological
restriction on working memory underlying this.
The short answer: We CAN'T do it. It's like getting VIC20 computer to do
multiple regressions and factor analysis.
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