[MD] Barfuersserkirche (The Role of the Academy)

[Stephen Hannon]

Hello folks,

In ZMM we also read about Phaedrus' experiment with eliminating the
degree-and-grading system in "formal" education.  It seems that the
degree-and-grading system is the tool of the powers that be to judge
the population and distinguish the "smart" people from the rest, even
though a grade really only says how well you can play by their rules
and give them what they want.  Being a university student myself, I
can't help but think that I learn more valuable knowledge from one
day's reading of MOQ Discuss than I do in some of my classes.

Regards,
Steve H

On 10/3/06, Dan Glover <daneglover at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone
>
> >From: Arlo Bensinger <ajb102 at psu.edu>
> >Reply-To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
> >To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
> >Subject: [MD] Barfuersserkirche (The Role of the Academy)
> >Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 09:30:47 -0400
> >
> >Dan made some comments recently differentiating "educating yourself" and
> >"being educated". The underlying premise appeared to be, "who needs the
> >Academy when there are libraries and bookstores". Above our library, one
> >building across from my office, is engraved the words "The True University
> >is collection of books". As always having seen the inherent wisdom in such
> >a statement, and yet one who also sees the value of The Academy as a
> >discursive "place", I got to thinking... is there a conflict here?
>
> Hi Arlo
>
> Thank you for this post as it's right along the line of thought I've been
> following myself. First of all though let me clear up the misconception that
> one doesn't need academia when there are libraries and bookstores. I deeply
> admire those like Anthony McWatt and David Buchanan and Mark Maxwell and
> others who are making names for themselves and the MOQ within academia. I am
> not saying it's better to just read books rather than go to a college or
> university. I'm saying there's a process of indoctrination involved however,
> much like the process one goes through when serving in the military. One
> gives up any right to creative thought processes in favor of the greater
> social good and in doing so becomes a member of an exclusive club. Look:
>
> "Between the lines Phædrus read no doubts, no sense of awe, only the eternal
> smugness of the professional academician. Did Aristotle really think his
> students would be better rhetoricians for having learned all these endless
> names and relationships?" (ZMM)
>
> So I guess that is the question: do students really better themselves by
> learning all the endless names and relationships they learn in college? Or
> is it society that benefits?
>
> >
> >Anticipating the forthcoming book from David Granger, one could lay out a
> >historical spectrum of ideas as to the role of The Academy (assuming for
> >present purposes we don't make an artificial distinction between "higher
> >education" and "K12 education") from enculturation to utility (preparing
> >workers) to assimilation to preservation, from a "tool of the state" to a
> >naturally emerging discourse community, inhabited by those seeking grades,
> >jobs, wisdom, knowledge, from those who have no idea why they are here, to
> >those with a distinct goal. It is home to the humble and brilliant as well
> >as the arrogant and condescending.
>
> Again, I am not seeking to disparage higher education - to the contrary, I
> think I've heard it said that education is the ultimate currency.
>
> >
> >Within The Academy, "classrooms" range from large lecture halls with one
> >main speaker, to small discussion-oriented circles, from the Socratic Ideal
> >to Fordian Functionality. It has excluded minorities and sought to populate
> >its halls with them. But are all these local, historical, cultural
> >manifestations of the "university" (lower case), the brick and mortar
> >parallel to Pirsig's "Church of Reason"?
>
> What a great point! In ZMM we read:
>
> "We are at the classic-romantic barrier now, where on one side we see a
> cycle as it appears immediately...and this is an important way of seeing
> it...and where on the other side we can begin to see it as a mechanic does
> in terms of underlying form...and this is an important way of seeing things
> too. These tools for example...this wrench...has a certain romantic beauty
> to it, but its purpose is always purely classical. It's designed to change
> the underlying form of the machine.
>
> "The porcelain inside this first plug is very dark. That is classically as
> well as romantically ugly because it means the cylinder is getting too much
> gas and not enough air. The carbon molecules in the gasoline aren't finding
> enough oxygen to combine with and they're just sitting here loading up the
> plug. Coming into town yesterday the idle was loping a little, which is a
> symptom of the same thing.
>
> "Just to see if it's just the one cylinder that's rich I check the other
> one. They're both the same. I get out a pocket knife, grab a stick lying in
> the gutter and whittle down the end to clean out the plugs, wondering what
> could be the cause of the richness. That wouldn't have anything to do with
> rods or valves. And carbs rarely go out of adjustment. The main jets are
> oversized, which causes richness at high speeds but the plugs were a lot
> cleaner than this before with the same jets. Mystery. You're always
> surrounded by them. But if you tried to solve them all, you'd never get the
> machine fixed. There's no immediate answer so I just leave it as a hanging
> question.
>
> "The first tappet is right on, no adjustment required, so I move on to the
> next. Still plenty of time before the sun gets past those trees—I always
> feel like I'm in church when I do this -- .The gage is some kind of
> religious icon and I'm performing a holy rite with it. It is a member of a
> set called "precision measuring instruments" which in a classic sense has a
> profound meaning."
>
> So in answer to your question I would say no, the Church of Reason isn't the
> brick and mortar universities that students attend. The Church of Reason is
> the "precision measuring instruments" that the brick and mortar universities
> spring from - intellectual patterns of value that demand obedience to
> Reason.
>
> >And of the "Church" itself, is it
> >a condemnable remnant of Aristotelian metaphysics?
>
> I think the "church" itself isn't condemnable at all, unless we all want to
> go back to the stone age.
>
> >If we "burn down the
> >schools", will Quality be served by simply issuing library cards?
>
> They get mad at me at the library when I write in the columns of their books
> and threaten to make me pay for them. So I like to buy my own books.
> Seriously though, isn't this a personal decision we all make? If there are
> so many books to read in a university course that the student grows weary of
> reading and after the course is over refuses to read another book has
> Quality been served?
>
> >Is The
> >Academy imposed on us, or does it spring naturally from our activity?
>
> Remember the Chairman's tirade from ZMM?
>
> >Would
> >people NOT congregate to talk, to share ideas, to work together on
> >research? If Pirsig taught a class, would none of us attend? Is there
> >nothing, no body of thought, or area of knowledge, or skill, that is served
> >better by collaborative work in the Church of Reason?
>
> As long as they are members of the club, people will talk, share ideas, and
> work together. If they are not members of the club, not so much
> collaboration goes on, at least in my experience.
>
> Thank you for your comments,
>
> Dan
>
>
>
>
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