Plato In Retreat Meme Warfare 2011
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How parallels between Plato\'s critique of education in the Allegory of the Cave helps educators deal with students of the Digital Age.
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Plato In Retreat Meme Warfare 2011
- 1. A Defense of Education Innate knowing Proper cultivation Basis for differentiation A Critique of Teaching Knowledge = data Training as learning Predication and control
- 2. Socrates - 469 BC–399 BC Plato - 428BC – 348 BC
- 3. Plato’s Retreat: The Allegory of the Cave, Digitized Writing is a Techne that Weakens knowledge
- 4. “[Writing] will introduce forgetfulness into the soul of those who learn it: they will not practice using their memory because they will put their trust in writing, which is external and depends on signs that belong to others, instead of trying to remember from the inside, completely on their own. You have not discovered a potion for remembering, but for reminding; you provide your students with the appearance of wisdom, not with its reality. (Phaedrus 275a-b; see also 275d-e)
- 5. “Your invention will enable them to hear many things without being properly taught, and they will imagine that they have came to know much while for the most part they will know nothing. And they will be difficult to get along with, since they will merely appear to be wise instead of really being so.” (Phaedrus 275a-b; see also 275d-e)
- 6. Writing Appearance Knowing Remembering
- 7. Reality of Wisdom is not captured in Words Appearance is But what is the Reality of Wisdom?
- 8. Philosophy: philein + sophia The verb ‘philein’ means ‘to love’, whereas the substantive ‘sophia’ means ‘wisdom’
- 9. Plato’s SymposiumA Discourse on the Nature of Éros
- 10. Diotima’s Discourse on the Birth of Éros(Symposium, 203-204). Διοτίμα: On the day of Aphrodite's birth the gods were making merry, and among them was Resource, the son of Craft. And when they had supped, Need came begging at the door because there was good cheer inside. Now it happened that Resource, having drunk deeply of the heavenly nectar wandered out into the garden of Zeus and sank into a deep sleep, and Need, thinking to get a child by Resource would mitigate her poverty, lay down beside him, and in time conceived Éros. So Éros became the follower and servant of Aphrodite because he was begotten on the same day that Aphrodite was born, and further, Éros was born to love the beautiful since Aphrodite is beautiful herself.
- 11. Diotima’s Discourse on the Birth of Éros(Symposium, 203-204). Διοτίμα: Then again, as the son of Resource and Need, it has been his fate to be always needy; […] But, secondly, Éros brings his father's resourcefulness to his designs upon the beautiful and the good… SoÉros is never altogether in or out of need, and stands, moreover, midway between ignorance and wisdom.
- 12. Diotima’s Discourse on the Birth of Éros(Symposium, 203-204). Σωκράτης : Then tell me, Diotima, who are these seekers after truth, if they are neither the wise nor the ignorant? Διοτίμα: : Why a child could have told you that, after what I've just been saying. They are those that come between the two, and one of them is Éros. For wisdom is concerned with the loveliest of things, and Éros is the love of what is lovely. And so it follows that Éros is a lover of wisdom, and, being such, he is placed between wisdom and ignorance …
- 13. Diotima’s Discourse on the Birth of Éros(Symposium, 203-204). Metaxy (μεταξύ) the “in-between” or “middle ground” Desire = a lack Eroticism of Knowing Transformative
- 14. But whatcan be lovedmost? What is most worthy of being known? What will be most transformative?
- 15. Essence of Justice: MLK “.....In a real sense Mahatma Ghandi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe. These principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation.” "The Spirit of Mahatma" read on the centennial of Mahatma Ghandi's birth
- 16. Universal Principles = Order of the Universe Reason => L. ratio, ratio, proportion, calculation Reason accesses this unchanging order
- 17. Education versus Indoctrination Education draws out this Natural Order Justifies its truths by appeal to reason Goal: liberation and autonomy Indoctrination Denies this Natural Order Justifies its opinions through sheer force of persuasion and coercion
- 18. Teaching as Training the Beast (The Republic, Bk. VI.,492ff.) And do they not teach to perfection young and old, men and women alike, and fashion them after their own hearts? When they meet together, and the world sits down at an assembly … or in any other popular resort, and there is a great uproar, and they praise some things which are being said or done, and blame other things, equally exaggerating both, … at such a time will not a young man's heart, as they say, leap within him?
- 19. Teaching as Training the Beast (The Republic, Bk. VI.,492ff.) Why, that all those mercenary individuals … do, in fact, teach nothing but the opinion of the many, that is to say, the opinions of their assemblies; and this is their wisdom. I might compare them to a man who should study the tempers and desires of a mighty strong beast who is fed by him ‑ …
- 20. Teaching as Training the Beast (The Republic, Bk. VI.,492ff.) Why, that all those mercenary individuals … do, in fact, teach nothing but the opinion of the many, that is to say, the opinions of their assemblies; and this is their wisdom. I might compare them to a man who should study the tempers and desires of a mighty strong beast who is fed by him ‑ …
- 21. Teaching as Training the Beast (The Republic, Bk. VI.,492ff.) ….he calls his knowledge wisdom, and makes of it a system or art, which he proceeds to teach, although he has no real notion of what he means by the principles or passions of which he is speaking, but calls this honorable and that dishonorable, or good or evil, or just or unjust, all in accordance with the tastes and tempers of the great beast.
- 23. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: The UrDebate on Education versus Indoctrination “if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put true knowledge into a soul that does not posses it, as if they were inserting vision into blind eyes” “Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already”(518c)
- 29. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave(TheRepublic Bk. VII.,514a-517a) Socrates: But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes.
- 30. Chained From Birth 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media (more than 53 hours a week). ‘media multitasking’ = 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
- 32. Free Market Schooling Cultivating Consumers Values Habits
- 34. Hollister Abercrombie & Fitch Branding as mood "It's setting the mood, and it's about expressing the brand's personality," he says. "[It's] individualistic, having a good time, not just buying and selling, but creating the kind of ambiance that kids find appealing."
- 40. A Defense of Education Innate knowing Proper cultivation Basis for differentiation A Critique of Teaching Knowledge = data Training as learning Predication and control
- 41. FINI
- 43. Plato’s Retreat:Intellectual Hedonism The pleasure of the Life of the Mind Philosophy as Lover of Wisdom Lover of Learning Insatiable Desire for Learning Wisdom?
- 44. A Defense of Education Innate knowing Proper cultivation Basis for differentiation A Critique of Teaching Knowledge = data Training as learning Predication and control
- 45. Plato’s Retreat:Intellectual Hedonism The pleasure of the Life of the Mind Philosophy as Lover of Wisdom Lover of Learning Insatiable Desire for Learning Wisdom?
Editor's Notes
- All knowing is remembering - importance will become clearer as we progressWriting a technique that distances mind from what is most importantCreates illusion that we know about something because we have the wordsDRIVE HIOME TEHCNOLOGY - OF WRITING - CHANGES CONSCIOUSNESSWe know everything now because we have googleMakes Words more powerful than ideas - infoirmation retrieval more important than thinkingIn context of socrates' ideal of what is most worth knowing and understanding - namely wisdom
- Erotic - true eroticism of knowing - the other: that which is beyond usImmediacy to understanding and knowing as memory - its alive - full of live and its power, that pulls you out beyond yourself, opening space for transformationA reality to this experience that is at the heart of the goodA force which is the source of meaning Information retrieval - words as appearance of wisdom is like internet porn vs making loveHaving words creates illusioon of wisdom - objectifies SophiaShe can then be manipulated using words regardless of their truth
- Take justice: a fav theme of Plato - is justice malleable to highest paid lawyer? Or is their a truth to justice that is beyond words and their manipulationDo MLK
- Do slide ratioDo reason - as in logosThis is why something - an action or a word - is just and goodA normative conception - not descriptiveAnd it is about thinking, reasons, deliberation, reflective judgment that can change the way we liveNOT about emotion that simply confirms how we are, reinforces how we are, and justifies how we areTo be most alive is to live stretched out - half-way - orientted by this north star beyond the orbit of your natural ego the ideal of the good life - the examined life - eudaemonia - to flourish as ahuman
- It is eternal and timeless, self-subsistent and independent (211b). 7th letterThe process of purification and habituation just outlined, can also be seen as a process of becoming like unto God. Plato refers to this process in the Theaetetus as one of "homoiosis", of assimilating, becoming like the Deity: "...and to escape [the evils of this material world] is to become like God, so far as this is possible; and to become like God is to become righteous and holy and wise" (176B). The goal of this process of assimilation is to have pure knowledge of the Absolute Form of the Beautiful. Such a "knowing" is not theoretical or reflective, but is rather experiential, intuitive and participatory. Thus through the intellectual contemplation of the Beautiful itself one can, as far as is granted to mortals, participate in an "immortal realm" and achieve that highest good afforded to man(212a). Socrates completes his recollection and concludes by telling Phaedrus and the others that Eros is mankind’s greatest helper insofar as careful attention to erotic activity can lead us upwards to the realm of the Forms
- It is eternal and timeless, self-subsistent and independent (211b). 7th letterThe process of purification and habituation just outlined, can also be seen as a process of becoming like unto God. Plato refers to this process in the Theaetetus as one of "homoiosis", of assimilating, becoming like the Deity: "...and to escape [the evils of this material world] is to become like God, so far as this is possible; and to become like God is to become righteous and holy and wise" (176B). The goal of this process of assimilation is to have pure knowledge of the Absolute Form of the Beautiful. Such a "knowing" is not theoretical or reflective, but is rather experiential, intuitive and participatory. Thus through the intellectual contemplation of the Beautiful itself one can, as far as is granted to mortals, participate in an "immortal realm" and achieve that highest good afforded to man(212a). Socrates completes his recollection and concludes by telling Phaedrus and the others that Eros is mankind’s greatest helper insofar as careful attention to erotic activity can lead us upwards to the realm of the Forms
- Part of crit on sophists: knowledge for control and power, not truthWordsmiths who play to emotion in order to manipulate and controlThe beast likes - feed it - the beast don't like - don't use those words Its not about changing the beast, transforming or civilizing the beast - its about meeting the beast on its own terms - since there - in the emotional morass - the beast is vulnerable to manipulationIf educated - if civilized - there might be resistanceTeach to the test - don't create autonomous thinkersOnly criteria for understanding words - their function in provoking desired responseSophists - first paid teachers of rhetoricFast forward to today's most powerful sophist, the political consultant PR genius Frank Luntz as sophist -What we would call today PR marketing - political consultant
- Makes Words more powerful than ideas - infoirmation retrieval more important than thinkingMakes emotion - not thinking - the most powerfulPlato critique of sophists as educators: allegiory of caveHad to devlop a framework that could resist, undermine, discredit sophistsOnly way was by offering up a more beliveable framework
- Sophist quote again - the beast - emotionsalSlide emotion brandingReactive Control'I feel' - no one allowed to say this in my classes - and its incredibly difficult to do because we raise emotional blobsBut worse - its about providing meaning - in a spritiual or cult like senseThen commercial educators - brand cult emotionCUNSUMER CULT VIDEOTo be most alive is the ideal of the good life - the examined life - eudaemonia - to flourish as ahuman
- Examine how digital technologuies may be uswed for destructive ends - allegory of cave - chained from birthTo control and gain power over others - particulalry demographic with most disposible income: childrenDo consuming children
- Total detachment from ethical - from the good - from any point of reference outside their own selfValues that are toxic to the immune system of a cultureSegue from infant to teenagers - tweens - who are the most desirable demographic to corporate america - Like Africe was to imperialists 150 years ago, the consciousness of the teen is the 'dark continent' ready to be colognized by coprorate empiresThen basically do merhcants of coolRushkopf first - guilt money
- Teen demographic – guilt money
- Yeah, it is actually pretty dark," Emily agrees, "but I think it's fine. I think the first time I was in here, I thought it was really different. I was like, 'I can't even see anything.' But you get used to it. They have lights on the clothes, so it's fine." So you'd think that this store is doing everything wrong - the music is so loud that you can't talk, it's so dark you can't see where you're going, the smell's so strong that you end up smelling it on your clothes for hours - you'd think this would only drive customers away. But not so. Hollister does about $1.4 billion in annual sales for its parent company Abercrombie and Fitch. And today, this store full of kids, all of whom look about Emily's age. "They're doing really well. It's amazing," says Joe Duffy, founder and chairman of Duffy & Partners, a design and branding firm in Minneapolis. In the design world, Duffy's is a pretty big name. His company has done high-profile branding work for Coca Cola, Starbucks, Aveda, and Jim Beam. He even branded the Bahamas. Yes, the country. I asked him to help me understand why Hollister appeals to Emily. "It's setting the mood, and it's about expressing the brand's personality," he says. "[It's] individualistic, having a good time, not just buying and selling, but creating the kind of ambiance that kids find appealing."
- Corporations define coolWhere do kids feel this now? In school? Or videon game world? Or social networking? Shopping at AbercrombieFitch - Hollisters? slide - selling the mood - what?Where is reality? Where are children most alive? To be most alive is the ideal of the good life - the examined life - eudaemonia - to flourish as ahuman
- Transcnendence cult – brand as cult
- Pruning the brainUnintended consequences of manipulating the spiritual - the most sacred dimension of a personBut then exploiting children - isn't that a form of child abuse?Segue to digital nation: Kaiser study 8 hours a day in digital world - beyond the content - marketing - examine the medium - what are the unintended consequences of this technological immersionCreating one-dimensional understanding of reality: its diugital and entertainingPurining clipTechnology determines mediumMedium determines messageMessage shapes consciousnessPlato's word - consciousnessGutenberg press - consciousnessRadio/Television/ Old mass media - consciousnessTotal immerison in 3-5-7 different digital activities AT ONCEADHD and immediate gratification: Immdeidate gratification: cardinal virtue of consumer society taught by advertsiing and encouraged by technologyShow clip-IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION
- Multitask focus lost – immediate gratificationEducational cardinal sin: straight to ninth circle of hellI teach at risk youth bard clemente - they are reading allegory of the cave - most with a 6th grade level of reading skills - they found ayou tube version! Watch it instead of read it and do whatCLIP: LOSING OUR SENSES -IMAGINATION - cop OF UTOPIAN IMAGINATION
- Losing our senses – imaginationTechnology not inherently destrcutive - it’s a tool - how do we use it?But must be critical about thisFigure it our for yourself - educateReturn to Plato's retreat - Plato right about technology to the degree it distances us from being fully alive - from distancing us from love of learning - the most frequent definition of philosophy Plato usedWhen this love stops - a culture ossifies, stagnates, and atroophies, being unable to sustain the ongoing development, differentiation and transformation a thriving organism of culutreSchoolare last place for thinking- for mostkids
- Classrooms – concentrate – sustained discussion – last place – DO THIS? nO
- Is education a form of TRAINING?That is a MEMORIZATION OF FACTS and MASTERING OF TECHNIQUESA PROCESS IN WHICH WHAT WE LEARN IS SOMETHING ACCIDENTAL, THAT IS FOREIGN AND ALEIN TO US,BITS OF INFORMATION AND TECHNIQUES WHICH MUST SOMEHOW BE PUT INTO WE THE STUDENT, JUST LIKE ONE LOADS SOFTWARE ON A COMPUTER?THAT IS, IS THE GOAL OF WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE LEARNING HOW, LIKE A WELL-TRAINED POODLE, TO JUMP THROUGH HOOPS WITH GRACE AND ELEGANCE?SHOTING TO BE “BEST IN SHOW” IN THE SAT, GPA AND AP? IN ORDER TO THEN MAKE IT THROUGH THE FINAL HOOP AND WIN THE PRIZE OF ADMISSION TO THE ELITE COLLEGE OF OUR DREAMS?OR IS IT SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST THIS?COULD IT BE THAT EDUCATION IS NOT INCIDENTAL TO WHO WE ARE, BUT IS RATHER ESSENTIAL TO OUR SENSE OF SELF, YES, THAT IT IS LIKE A CAPACITY, INDEED A POWER OF OUR LIVES, LIKE A MUSCLE -To use Plato's words - let's even call it DIVINE AND AS AN ESSENTIAL MUSCLE EDUCATION CAN NEVER LEAVES US, SINCE IT IS NOT JUST A TOOL TO GET AHEAD, WHICH ONCE USED, IS DISCARDED, BUT IS INSTEAD, LIKE SPEAKING A LANGUAGE, A WAY OF ACTUALLY LIVING LIFE?
- Is education a form of TRAINING?That is a MEMORIZATION OF FACTS and MASTERING OF TECHNIQUESA PROCESS IN WHICH WHAT WE LEARN IS SOMETHING ACCIDENTAL, THAT IS FOREIGN AND ALEIN TO US,BITS OF INFORMATION AND TECHNIQUES WHICH MUST SOMEHOW BE PUT INTO WE THE STUDENT, JUST LIKE ONE LOADS SOFTWARE ON A COMPUTER?THAT IS, IS THE GOAL OF WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE LEARNING HOW, LIKE A WELL-TRAINED POODLE, TO JUMP THROUGH HOOPS WITH GRACE AND ELEGANCE?SHOTING TO BE “BEST IN SHOW” IN THE SAT, GPA AND AP? IN ORDER TO THEN MAKE IT THROUGH THE FINAL HOOP AND WIN THE PRIZE OF ADMISSION TO THE ELITE COLLEGE OF OUR DREAMS?OR IS IT SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST THIS?COULD IT BE THAT EDUCATION IS NOT INCIDENTAL TO WHO WE ARE, BUT IS RATHER ESSENTIAL TO OUR SENSE OF SELF, YES, THAT IT IS LIKE A CAPACITY, INDEED A POWER OF OUR LIVES, LIKE A MUSCLE -To use Plato's words - let's even call it DIVINE AND AS AN ESSENTIAL MUSCLE EDUCATION CAN NEVER LEAVES US, SINCE IT IS NOT JUST A TOOL TO GET AHEAD, WHICH ONCE USED, IS DISCARDED, BUT IS INSTEAD, LIKE SPEAKING A LANGUAGE, A WAY OF ACTUALLY LIVING LIFE?