In class Tuesday we touched on the topic of indoctrination. Socrates was accused of corrupting youth. Many people say that education is indoctrination. This brings to my mind many questions. Where is the line between indoctrination and education? Some would say that indoctrination is forcing a belief on someone as if there is no other belief that could be considered. However, it is also common to hear the phrase, “What’s true for you does not have to be true for me.” Some say that Christians indoctrinate their children with their personal beliefs. In American culture as children, media and educational resources told us things like, “Listen to your heart,” “Live for today!” and “Follow your dreams.” Are these necessarily true and wise? Not always. Where is the line between indoctrination and education? If we are not educated we have no way to search through all the world has to tell us. We are completely clueless and helpless. We are too naive to prosper. Let’s pretend we’ve jumped in time ten years, and you are a parent. Would you rather your child be educated and prepared for the world, in many areas? Or would you back off, and not show them what they need to know, in order to survive, because you are afraid of indoctrinating them? No! Now, I do believe indoctrination is real, but I believe people accuse too quickly. It is better to know as much as possible, as an adult, so that you can make knowledgeable decisions. Don’t we want to give everyone that chance to prosper?
P.S. I commented on Amy's post
There is a difference, however, between a brainwashing, so-so, "this is what we're *pretty* sure of" kind of education. A lot of science seems to include this. As does a lot of the ancient history dating in regards to artifacts. There are facts that may be taught as "indoctrination" though, such as math, grammar, and the like. I just feel like much of education is indoctrination as far as "this is what our rough estimates about science prove". It hurts to hear some of those things and to watch as people take it in like candy. I believe we should question beliefs presented before us, especially regarding religion. Sadly enough, we can't just say "only judge these" without contradicting ourselves. So we must question everything.
ReplyDeleteI would agree. The saddest thing to me is when someone is not able to question. Questioning is essentially, learned. If you don't know what's out there to question, what will your questions be. It saddens me to think that there are people out there that have no perception of questioning,and thinking something all the way through. Even in America, this is a lot of times the case. I suppose what I'm leading to is, questioning involves education, education sometimes called indoctrination. This is where I hit a brick wall. Anybody have anything to say about this?
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