usfan
Well-Known Member
Western culture has had a lot of ups & downs over the last couple of centuries, but the anchor for it was the concept of an orderly world:
1. Consistency in natural law
2. Use of the scientific method
3. The logical pursuit of truth
4. Peer review, critical thinking, & skepticism were a balance to 'science by decree'.
These concepts reached their heyday in post ww2 America. Engineers & scientific researchers leapfrogged advancement after advancement, dazzling everyone with their ability to harness natural law as a tool.
But to some, these things were not seen as harnessing the laws of physics, but a creative & almost godlike power. A mystique built up around the fields of engineering & science, & it was a magnet to young people when they pursued a career. The fields of technology were major draws in the middle of the last century in America. Breakthroughs in medicine, manufacturing, computers, & just about every part of human life has been positively affected by these technological advances, & families encouraged their children to be part of that growth & advancement of humanity.
The technological advances brought unprecedented prosperity & luxurious conditions for even the poorest in the nation. And as often has happened throughout history, with prosperity comes complacency & growing lethargy. Hard work loses its appeal, & easy living seems to be the preferred route. Why work hard if you don't have to? The Entitlement culture was born.
And, as the culture has declined, so has the magnet for technology. Fewer & fewer American youth desire a career in science or engineering. Non productive elements of society have taken center stage. Sports, entertainment, celebrity worship, money shuffling.. these things are valued & esteemed over the mundane & difficult scientific disciplines.
Now, we are in a time of Anti Science. Social issues & cultural manipulation is taking place, of course, claiming truth or science as a basis. But instead of open scrutiny, mandates. Instead of the scientific method, decree. Instead of logic & critical thinking, truth is declared & propaganda has become the method of 'instruction'.. Truth becomes what the establishment says, rather than something based on reason or facts. Critical thinking is not encouraged, just memorized dogma. History is not taught as dispassionate facts, but to mold a belief. Conclusions are presupposed, & memorized, instead of arrived at by research & thinking. THIS is the greatest failure of American education, which once was a beacon of classic liberal thought.. Now, it is just another state propaganda tool.
Thoughts or rebuttals?
1. Consistency in natural law
2. Use of the scientific method
3. The logical pursuit of truth
4. Peer review, critical thinking, & skepticism were a balance to 'science by decree'.
These concepts reached their heyday in post ww2 America. Engineers & scientific researchers leapfrogged advancement after advancement, dazzling everyone with their ability to harness natural law as a tool.
But to some, these things were not seen as harnessing the laws of physics, but a creative & almost godlike power. A mystique built up around the fields of engineering & science, & it was a magnet to young people when they pursued a career. The fields of technology were major draws in the middle of the last century in America. Breakthroughs in medicine, manufacturing, computers, & just about every part of human life has been positively affected by these technological advances, & families encouraged their children to be part of that growth & advancement of humanity.
The technological advances brought unprecedented prosperity & luxurious conditions for even the poorest in the nation. And as often has happened throughout history, with prosperity comes complacency & growing lethargy. Hard work loses its appeal, & easy living seems to be the preferred route. Why work hard if you don't have to? The Entitlement culture was born.
And, as the culture has declined, so has the magnet for technology. Fewer & fewer American youth desire a career in science or engineering. Non productive elements of society have taken center stage. Sports, entertainment, celebrity worship, money shuffling.. these things are valued & esteemed over the mundane & difficult scientific disciplines.
Now, we are in a time of Anti Science. Social issues & cultural manipulation is taking place, of course, claiming truth or science as a basis. But instead of open scrutiny, mandates. Instead of the scientific method, decree. Instead of logic & critical thinking, truth is declared & propaganda has become the method of 'instruction'.. Truth becomes what the establishment says, rather than something based on reason or facts. Critical thinking is not encouraged, just memorized dogma. History is not taught as dispassionate facts, but to mold a belief. Conclusions are presupposed, & memorized, instead of arrived at by research & thinking. THIS is the greatest failure of American education, which once was a beacon of classic liberal thought.. Now, it is just another state propaganda tool.
Thoughts or rebuttals?
