There is so much in this fine article to comment on. In one sense I feel that I stand corrected, in another sense I feel like I stand vindicated.
The point I would put forward is a saying heard among the country boys, the hotrod street racers, of my vintage… translated for meaning into open English. The saying goes “don’t run your mouth, run what ya’ bring and we’ll let the finish line be the judge.”
The meaning, in that simple situation, is pretty obvious: regardless of their respective pedigrees I think my car is faster than your car (here’s to to Carol Shelby).
Perhaps the best answer to the issue of the “educated elite” can be derived from that attitude by focusing not on the education but rather on what it is to be truly elite. The word is now commonly used as a bit of a slur, but it is not well understood. To be among the elite is to be the best of the best at whatever it is that you do. In matters of physical reality there is an objective standard… the finish line… to facilitate that status. The problem is that in matters of the social sciences as they are called there is not, and really cannot, be any such standard to apply.
In the social sciences the operative element is expressed by a word rare to never seen in the same context, and that word is Wisdom. Have some compassion for the poor little rich kid who goes to the high dollar university to study in those realms. It is expected, by the price tag, that he will emerge not only young but very wise aas well. The problem I see driving this issue is that Wisdom cannot be taught, not really, it has to be acquired through experience.
In point of fact the young graduate in the humanities is at exactly the same risk as any 16 year old who, with the plastic barely cool on a brand new drivers license, gets handed the keys to a Cobra A/C, that (in)famously fast machine that Carol first bolted up out of salvaged components. If he survives three months he’ll likely do well, but… nine times out of ten the machine will kill the kid before he’s had the chance to fully understand just how much power he really does command.
June 9, 2024 @ 11:06 am
There is so much in this fine article to comment on. In one sense I feel that I stand corrected, in another sense I feel like I stand vindicated.
The point I would put forward is a saying heard among the country boys, the hotrod street racers, of my vintage… translated for meaning into open English. The saying goes “don’t run your mouth, run what ya’ bring and we’ll let the finish line be the judge.”
The meaning, in that simple situation, is pretty obvious: regardless of their respective pedigrees I think my car is faster than your car (here’s to to Carol Shelby).
Perhaps the best answer to the issue of the “educated elite” can be derived from that attitude by focusing not on the education but rather on what it is to be truly elite. The word is now commonly used as a bit of a slur, but it is not well understood. To be among the elite is to be the best of the best at whatever it is that you do. In matters of physical reality there is an objective standard… the finish line… to facilitate that status. The problem is that in matters of the social sciences as they are called there is not, and really cannot, be any such standard to apply.
In the social sciences the operative element is expressed by a word rare to never seen in the same context, and that word is Wisdom. Have some compassion for the poor little rich kid who goes to the high dollar university to study in those realms. It is expected, by the price tag, that he will emerge not only young but very wise aas well. The problem I see driving this issue is that Wisdom cannot be taught, not really, it has to be acquired through experience.
In point of fact the young graduate in the humanities is at exactly the same risk as any 16 year old who, with the plastic barely cool on a brand new drivers license, gets handed the keys to a Cobra A/C, that (in)famously fast machine that Carol first bolted up out of salvaged components. If he survives three months he’ll likely do well, but… nine times out of ten the machine will kill the kid before he’s had the chance to fully understand just how much power he really does command.