[MD] 42

[Dan Glover]

David,
Right. What Pirsig is talking about here is his potential
implementation of a non-grading system and how education has been
misconstrued (by some) as obtaining a degree rather than gaining
practical knowledge.

"On the basis of one man, one vote, the system was very unpopular. The
majority of students definitely wanted their grades as they went
along. But when Phædrus broke down the returns according to the grades
that were in his book...and the grades were not out of line with
grades predicted by previous classes and entrance
evaluations...another story was told. The A students were 2 to 1 in
favor of the system. The B and C students were evenly divided. And the
D’s and F’s were unanimously opposed!

"This surprising result supported a hunch he had had for a long time:
that the brighter, more serious students were the least desirous of
grades, possibly because they were more interested in the subject
matter of the course, whereas the dull or lazy students were the most
desirous of grades, possibly because grades told them if they were
getting by." [ZMM]

Dan comments:
It was the dull and lazy students--in other words, the would-be
mules--that objected most to the system. The students who were
motivated to learn--who were there to become better citizens, to rock
the world if you will--were the ones to whom grades mattered least.

I think you could say the same thing about true creative artists... it
isn't the applause derived from recognition and sales of their work
that drives them, although there is nothing wrong with putting food on
the table either. Rather, they are interested, even compelled, to not
only maintain civilization but to make it better.

Sure, there are those who are and will always be only interested in
financially bettering their pocketbooks. But don't we have to look at
those folk as a sort of mule too? They were perhaps also enthralled to
the notion that grades matter, and for them, the more money they make
the higher grade they get.

Doing away with grades is tantamount to doing away with money. How
could anyone keep score if there are no grades? The old adage that it
isn't about winning so much as it is about how the game is played has
become outdated in many people's minds. Not only is it about winning,
but winning is everything. Those who don't go along with this premise
are shunted aside and ostracized as being losers.

Thanks,

Dan

http://www.danglover.com


On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 7:37 PM, david <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> This is a tangential issue and nobody asked BUT please notice what Pirsig (via David Granger) is saying about relationship between academia and civilization....
>
> From Granger's paper, called "Dewey and Pirsig in Education":
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> The student[s'] biggest problem was a slave mentality which had been built into [them] by years of carrot-and-whip grading, a mule mentality which said, 'If you don't whip me, I won't work.' [They] didn't get whipped. [They] didn't work. And the cart of civilization, which [they] supposedly [were] being trained to pull, was just going to have to creak along a little slower without [them]. (ZMM, 175)
> Ironically, Pirsig thought, this is in direct contradiction to the academy’s claim that civilization “is best served not by mules but by free men” (ZMM, 175). And education is supposedly the means to this freedom.  As tragic as this slave mentality sounds, Pirsig saw that it is unavoidable only if one presumes that the cart of civilization must be propelled by something outside itself, by disinterested mule-selves. Whether these mules are in front of or behind the cart matters little here. In either position, they bespeak of stubborn, laboring beasts – the polar opposite of artistically-engaged human beings -- beasts that have no immediate investment in or sense of connection to the larger cart of civilization."
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> As I read this, proper education is of no importance unless you're interested in maintaining civilization.  The academy, or rather the church of reason, supposedly says that civilization "is best served not by mules by free men" (free people) and it supposedly offers education as "the means to this freedom". And what does it mean to NOT be a mule? What does it mean to be free, to liberated by this education? I suppose it's just like the man says. This kind of freedom means that it totally matters whether you're "in front of or behind the cart" of civilization. In fact, you're an "artistically-engaged human being" with a personal "investment in or sense of connection to the larger cart of civilization." The mules say that all this "matters little". "The stubborn, laboring beasts," by contrast, "have no immediate investment in or sense of connection to the larger cart of civilization."
>
> Same as it ever was, I think we need throw out the money lenders. I mean, the church of reason has become corrupt in the same sort of way. For the most part, people think of higher education levels as the means to a higher income. Otherwise, most dads figure, college is a waste of money. That's not the kind of calculus that propers civilization forward, obviously. It's not crazy. Seems sensible, hard to argue with common sense realism. Blah, blah, blah, as everyone knows. But it's tragically narrow-minded and short-sighted and if everyone thought like that the whole freakin' deal would crap out in a hurry. In fact, that might be what's already happening. Or maybe that's just how stupid it is in America. Sigh.
> Look, I know we've all had some hell from bullies and tyrants at school. But that's not what Pirsig (or Dewey or Granger or any other serious person) is concerned about with respect to the church of reason or with respect to Western rationality. This is about some serious shit that is not terribly relevant to anyone's 5th grade teacher, you know? How can a democracy, like ours is supposed to be, with a bunch of mules voting? If the progress of civilization depends on the strength of free people to pull her forward, then what is the value of real education?
>