Sorry, links appear to be all I'm good for. But here's a good 'un.Flava:
...you can form an opinion in a bubble, and for the first couple of decades of our lives we all do. However, eventually you are going to venture out into the world and find that what you thought was an informed opinion was actually just a tiny thought based on little data and your feelings. Many, many, many of your opinions will turn out to be uninformed or just flat out wrong. No, the fact that you believed it doesn’t make it any more valid or worthwhile, and nobody owes your viewpoint any respect simply because it is yours.Read the whole thing.
You can be wrong or ignorant. It will happen. Reality does not care about your feelings. Education does not exist to persecute you. The misinformed are not an ethnic minority being oppressed. ... No, it’s not your opinion. You’re just wrong.
I really enjoyed reading this, especially the part about the holocaust. My brother is a fervent holocaust denier (if that's even a word) and it is quite difficult to have an intelligent discussion with him on the subject. Some of the points he brings up make my head spin:
ReplyDelete1) There was gassing but it was not used for killing people. Instead, it was a mechanism for treating and preventing lice.
2) Inmates did die from horrible conditions. However, they lived in horrible conditions not because of cruelty by the nazis, but because it is impossible to get supplies in after the alliance blew up all the bridges.
3) Bodies were burned due to sanitation issues caused by having no place to bury them (because bridges and alliance).
But he never seems to defend why Hitler created these camps to begin with.
He has an interesting followup about the reactions to his article here http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/it-s-weird-how-people-correct-me-when-they-think-i-m-a-woman-7623225?utm_content=buffer13b7f
ReplyDeleteI teach human behavior. Many of my students think they know as much about the subject as I do. They also believe the entire field is nothing but opinion and nonsense. How foolish of them to sign up for a class in opinion and nonsense, I think.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to work up the nerve to use this article as part of my assigned reading at the start of the term.