Don't knock pedantry.
Bertrand Russell said that a pedant is simply someone who prefers their opinions to be right not wrong.
I'll add to that: a good pedant will be as prepared to challenge their own views as they are to challenge others'. This virtue is rare in the non-pedantic community, many of whose members are indifferent towards the quest for truth as well as being dogmatic about their relativism, which they fail to find an odd place to stand.
All the best arguments end in beers. Argue with me.
Saturday 5 March 2011
Edukashun, Eddukation, Edcutation
In the 19th century, extending schooling to those considered the scum of the earth was seen by many of their betters as threatening to general social wellbeing. But on the whole it was rightly embraced and valued by those who got it.
Today it's the reverse: unless we have a political purpose that requires us to lie about it, we lament and feel threatened by their lack of education despite pushing what passes for it at them at every opportunity.
Today it's the reverse: unless we have a political purpose that requires us to lie about it, we lament and feel threatened by their lack of education despite pushing what passes for it at them at every opportunity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)