Hum 101: 1.5 -- Infertile Soil for the Flowering of Wisdom
Posted on 25 May, 2011 by scottparkin
The first question in the course that really stuck in my craw; the preceding questions were more simple explorations of the ideas of art and value, but this is the first one that attempted to pick a fight.
From lesson one, exercise question 5. The question and my response.
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Do you agree or disagree with Alston Chase's comment: "Students, whose role models are baseball players or rock stars, are unlikely to cherish knowledge. Those reared in the culture of instant gratification have little patience for the often laborious tasks of learning. A land wedded to wealth and entertainment is infertile soil for the flowering of wisdom."
My initial reaction to Mr. Chase is a tired sigh and tremendous sense of déjà vu. Criticism of the young by the old as being callow, shallow, and generally culturally bereft has been offered more or less constantly for the last four thousand years, and Mr. Chase has offered nothing new on the old complaint. The young people of the Charleston era were decried as impatient, shallow-minded partiers capable of nothing useful, yet their children are now (self) described as the greatest generation—both in terms of political and artistic accomplishment.
From lesson one, exercise question 5. The question and my response.
=== === ===
Do you agree or disagree with Alston Chase's comment: "Students, whose role models are baseball players or rock stars, are unlikely to cherish knowledge. Those reared in the culture of instant gratification have little patience for the often laborious tasks of learning. A land wedded to wealth and entertainment is infertile soil for the flowering of wisdom."
My initial reaction to Mr. Chase is a tired sigh and tremendous sense of déjà vu. Criticism of the young by the old as being callow, shallow, and generally culturally bereft has been offered more or less constantly for the last four thousand years, and Mr. Chase has offered nothing new on the old complaint. The young people of the Charleston era were decried as impatient, shallow-minded partiers capable of nothing useful, yet their children are now (self) described as the greatest generation—both in terms of political and artistic accomplishment.