tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post5326761137644811089..comments2023-06-11T04:55:09.337-07:00Comments on Alms for Oblivion: On PersuasionThomas Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855333805635398250noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-88951707805178083312007-08-22T21:31:00.000-07:002007-08-22T21:31:00.000-07:00A thought: Valuation and desire (which are differe...A thought: Valuation and desire (which are different, but not really separate) have to be modeled by the teacher in order to be truly learned.<BR/><BR/>The <I>Silmarillion</I> marked me with an indelible desire for wisdom because Tolkien himself so clearly loved wisdom and valued it, and because he made it lovely in the life histories of his characters.Jeff Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08114418077449866628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-51860377919017410652007-08-21T18:53:00.000-07:002007-08-21T18:53:00.000-07:00To sum up, I think it is possible, albeit not nece...To sum up, I think it is possible, albeit not necessarily desireable to teach "Appreciation." I think the challenge is implementing methods coersive enough to make a set of students not only recognize the inherent worth in a given discipline without moralizing; i.e., if teachers were to do this, they should approach it along the lines of "If you do not appreciate Caravaggio, you have substandard tastes," rather than "If you do not appreciate Caravaggio, you have immoral tastes." <BR/><BR/>You're probably right as far as thinking that it may not realistically merit a place in any school's curriculum; however, if an educational program is successful, maybe it doesn't have to.<BR/><BR/>Anyhoo,<BR/><BR/>T.Thomas Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06855333805635398250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-81590875454507538452007-08-21T18:44:00.000-07:002007-08-21T18:44:00.000-07:00I am not that sure that valuation and desire are o...I am not that sure that valuation and desire are one in the same. Here appreciation rears its ugly head; a person can recognize the value of a thing, and implement it in the accordant area of their life without it meaning much to them on the emotional gradient. <BR/><BR/>Here's an off the cuff example: I recognize the value of good health, but that doesn't prevent me from smoking a stogie at a rate that would give Twain and Churchill a run for their money.Thomas Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06855333805635398250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-88343311695208881642007-08-21T16:36:00.000-07:002007-08-21T16:36:00.000-07:00Well said. As to your first point, an intellectual...Well said. As to your first point, an intellectual struggle with the trivial is one of the best ways to prepare one's mind for the eventual intellectual struggle with the important, at least to the extent that one realizes the former prefigures the latter.<BR/><BR/>Concerning your second point, I agree with you, but I wonder if a hierarchy of valuation can be taught. Information and means of achieving tasks can be taught, but desire cannot be literally taught. A teacher can set forth the strata of the universe on the blackboard such that a student will reproduce the information on a test, but this does not mean the student values things according to the strata chart he has been taught. A student must learn to want these things according to their ordinate values. Here the student need not be taught - perhaps rather persuaded. <BR/><BR/>Thoughts?Lincoln Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09711350850746990193noreply@blogger.com