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Technology is not Wisdom
Townhall.com ^ | March 20, 2014 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 03/20/2014 5:06:12 AM PDT by Kaslin

Americans now have more computer power in their smart phones than did the Pentagon in all its computer banks just 30 years ago. We board a sophisticated jet and assume that the flight is no more dangerous than crossing the street.

The downside of this complete reliance on computer gadgetry is a fundamental ignorance of what technology is. Smart machines are simply the pumps that deliver the water of knowledge -- not knowledge itself.

What does it matter that millions of American students can communicate across thousands of miles instantly with their iPads and iPhones if a poorly educated generation increasingly has little to say?

The latest fad of near-insolvent universities is to offer free iPads to students so that they can access information more easily. But what if most undergraduates still have not been taught to read well, think inductively or have some notion of history? Speeding up their ignorance is not the same as imparting wisdom. Requiring a freshman Latin course would be a far cheaper and wiser investment in mastering language, composition and inductive reasoning than handing out free electronics.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: iphones; smartphones; technology

1 posted on 03/20/2014 5:06:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The headline immediately reminded me of Frank Zappa’s “Packard Goose” monologue.

Information is
Not knowledge
Knowledge is
Not wisdom
Wisdom is not truth
Truth is not beauty
Beauty is not love
Love is not music
Music is the best...
Wisdom is the domain
Of the wis
(which is extinct).
Beauty is a french
Phonetic corruption
Of a short cloth
Neck ornament
Currently in
Resurgence...


2 posted on 03/20/2014 5:22:47 AM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: Kaslin
“Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.”
G. M. Trevelyan

Public education, for the convenience of TEACHERS, has leap frogged absolutely everything that is necessary for ‘understanding’ and real knowledge!

Don't believe it? Just listen to the way younger people speak, what they talk ABOUT, what interests them, what entertains them, what matters to them, etc. If it is possible to be an adult and know LESS or be less able to express yourself properly... I don't know HOW!!

We have a generation of idiots who are completely ignorant of what the world IS, where it WAS and where it is going! They have the most shallow perspective of EVERYTHING!

3 posted on 03/20/2014 5:51:23 AM PDT by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
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To: Deb; Sir Napsalot; Kaslin; neverdem; EXCH54FE; 2ndDivisionVet; Rummyfan; smoothsailing; Hojczyk; ...
The ancient Greek poet Hesiod reminded us roughly 2,700 years ago that sometimes intellectual or material progress brings with it moral regress.

To paraphrase Shane of Western movie fame: A laptop is only as bad or as good as the person using it.

VDH ping ...

4 posted on 03/20/2014 7:44:40 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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