Chemisty, Biology, Astronomy and Psychology

[Mole]

You've enrolled in a top flight University and you have elected to study in your first year Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and Psychology.

And in your first Chemistry class they start off with Alchemy.

And in your first Biology class they start off with Intelligent Design.

And in your first Astronomy class they start off with Astrology.

And in your first Psychology class they start off with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

What would you think?

 

[BlackCat]

Sounds nice and alternative. I'd enjoy it.

 

[bcvcdc]

^ are you spying on me again via satellite, victor?

 

[Mole]

^ are you spying on me again via satellite, victor?

Sure, but can you blame me? You are my favourite Bcvcdc. I read all your posts. Sometimes I worry about you and sometimes I want to talk to you.

What would I do without the satellite? And now with Google Earth I can stand at your front gate and look up the drive.

I have been a little worried about you in all the snow. But I am sure you are keeping your fingers and ears warm as you take the dogs out to play.

I expect the pond is frozen and the trees have lost all their leaves. But if you are wondering where all your leaves have gone, they have come down here and all our trees are bursting with leaves in our wonderful Autumn.

Yes, Autumn is the most delightful month in Canberra. Perfect day after perfect day. But don't think we forget you all white and snowy up in the North.

Yes, I remember you as I have my coffee and a warm, wholemeal roll every morning at the Bakery. And I remember you every time I go to the pictures at Manuka.

But next time I look down from the sky, I want to you to wave. You will wave to me as I pass overhead, won't you?

 

[rhinosaur]

I would believe what they are teaching me, naturally. All I know is what I've been taught, in one form or another.

 

[Andy]

You've enrolled in a top flight University and you have elected to study in your first year Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and Psychology.

And in your first Chemistry class they start off with Alchemy.

And in your first Biology class they start off with Intelligent Design.

And in your first Astronomy class they start off with Astrology.

And in your first Psychology class they start off with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

What would you think?

I think my first thought would be "I hope this is all just historical context".

 

[Mole]

Bless our cotton socks.

I would believe what they are teaching me, naturally. All I know is what I've been taught, in one form or another.

Of course mate, that's all any of us know.

For what we have been taught is our patrimony, our inheritance.

But three thousand years ago Socrates taught us to question our heritage, and for his pains he was put to death.

So in primary and secondary school we only teach our heritage, and it is only in tertiary education do we take the risk of questioning our heritage.

But why should we take the risk?

Islam, for instance, says we can't question the heritage of the Koran because it is the unalterable word of Allah. And indeed anyone who argues with the Koran will have their heads cut off.

On the other hand Islam has not contributed one significant idea to civilization for one thousand years.

But those who question their heritage have moved us from Astrology to Astronomy, from Alchemy to Chemistry, from Creationism to the Origin of Species, from MBTI to Psychometrics, from folk medicine to modern medicine.

However the modern world is counter-intuitive and we hanker for the intuitive world of Astrology, Alchemy, Intelligent Design, MBTI and folk remedies.

We hanker for the New Age, but unfortunately there is nothing new about it. It is simply a regression to childhood. And when the modern world become too much, we regress to our childhood - bless our cotton socks.

 

[Totenkindly]

You've enrolled in a top flight University and you have elected to study in your first year Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and Psychology.

And in your first Chemistry class they start off with Alchemy.

And in your first Biology class they start off with Intelligent Design.

And in your first Astronomy class they start off with Astrology.

And in your first Psychology class they start off with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

What would you think?

I'd think I was reading a post on an online forum somewhere.
('cuz I don't think I've ever heard of any of these happening at any credited college ANYWHERE.)

 

[Mole]

Waking Up to the Enlightenment

I think my first thought would be "I hope this is all just historical context".

And yes, Astrology, Alchemy, Creationism, folk medicine and MBTI are part of our history.

And during the Enlightenment of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries we started to wake up from the nightmare of our history.

But it is a slow awakening. For we only abolished institutional slavey for the first time in 1833. And women gained their emancipation in 1904. And it is only in 1990 that we started to prosecute child, sexual abuse in our Criminal Courts.

Of course there are those who wish to perpetuate the nightmare of history. Islam is using violence to take us back to the Seventh Century. And Astrology and MBTI are confidence tricks to take us back to the intuitive nightmare of the past.

However we have been asleep for 200,000 years and it is only in the last 300 years that we have started to wake up to the wonderful universe we live in.

 

[Mole]

Rhetorical and Literal Interpretations

I'd think I was reading a post on an online forum somewhere.
('cuz I don't think I've ever heard of any of these happening at any credited college ANYWHERE.)

Of course not - you are completely right - this has not happened anywhere.

I was asking a rhetorical question.

But you have taken my rhetorical question literally.

 

[Andy]

Of course there are those who wish to perpetuate the nightmare of history. Islam is using violence to take us back to the Seventh Century. And Astrology and MBTI are confidence tricks to take us back to the intuitive nightmare of the past.

And there in lies the crux of the problem, because one mans nightmare is anothers nostalgia. Perception is everything - to us rational enlightment is important, even if we may argue over the exact form it takes. Other people have different concerns, but they are all born from emotional considerations. Even the desire for absolute logic comes from a distain of the irrational.

 

[speculative]

I'd think I was reading a post on an online forum somewhere.
('cuz I don't think I've ever heard of any of these happening at any credited college ANYWHERE.)

Truth is stranger than fiction. My college roommate's entry-level writing professor spent a great deal of her time telling the class about how she was a space alien from another planet, and I can't remember clearly but she either had them write an essay about how she was a space alien, or an essay about what it would be like for the students if they were from another planet.

And in your first International Relations class they start off with Voodoo.

One of my international relations theory books started out with a story about how an indigenous tribe dreamed about the end of the world and then a volcano errupted, and that somehow had something to do with international relations. (Actually, "indigenous" populations are just the hip in thing at colleges so the inclusion of the story is probably why their textbook got published. ) Anytime anyone even hints at "alternate means of knowing" be prepared to duck to avoid the intellectual excrement splatter zone...

Ain't tenure grand?

 

[Totenkindly]

Of course not - you are completely right - this has not happened anywhere.

I was asking a rhetorical question.

But you have taken my rhetorical question literally.

I have trouble seeing the value of your rhetorical question unless it is literal.

(Because otherwise, to me, it seems completely disconnected to reality... whereas rhetorical questions only have value if they clearly mirror some realistic situation, which is why the rhetorical question is being offered in the first place -- as a mirror on some real situation.)

Then again, we have Mork-ette teaching creative writing here:

My college roommate's entry-level writing professor spent a great deal of her time telling the class about how she was a space alien from another planet, and I can't remember clearly but she either had them write an essay about how she was a space alien, or an essay about what it would be like for the students if they were from another planet.

...so.... who knows?

 

[lastrailway]

Are they starting off with this stuff in order to depict beliefs with no scientific basis, or are they actually teaching it?

And, if the latter, are we talking about an alternative reality of sorts, where I've never before been exposed to classes actual chemistry, biology and astronomy? Like, I barely have more education than being able to write and read and I suddenly find myself in this University? I guess I'd buy it, maybe find it interesting too.

Since I have been taught biology, chemistry, etc, before, then my reaction would depend of whether I was paying or not. If I was paying for my education, I'd protest, ask for my money back and leave. If it was free and for whatever reason I had spare time to spend, I guess I'd go to some lectures, just out of curiosity.

 

[teslashock]

You've enrolled in a top flight University and you have elected to study in your first year Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and Psychology.

And in your first Chemistry class they start off with Alchemy.

And in your first Biology class they start off with Intelligent Design.

And in your first Astronomy class they start off with Astrology.

And in your first Psychology class they start off with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

What would you think?

I would think that my dream had finally come true: Hogwarts does exist!

 

[Mole]

I have trouble seeing the value of your rhetorical question unless it is literal.

(Because otherwise, to me, it seems completely disconnected to reality... whereas rhetorical questions only have value if they clearly mirror some realistic situation, which is why the rhetorical question is being offered in the first place -- as a mirror on some real situation.)

The purpose of rhetoric is to persuade rather than describe reality. And so I was trying to persuade you to my point of view.

I thought of starting off by saying, "Imagine......". But I thought I would speak as though it were actually happening. So I can see why you would think it was literally true.

However this was to speak directly to your imagination without let or hindrance.

And as I rail constantly against literalism and make a fetish of metaphor and the imagination, I thought perhaps I might be understood this once.

But this was not to be.

 

[runvardh]

You're a cutie, Vic...

Edit: by the way, I enjoy looking up the old alchemical names for substances used in exothermic reactions.

 

[BlackCat]

I would think that my dream had finally come true: Hogwarts does exist!

Exactly!

 

[Mole]

Magical Thinking

I would think that my dream had finally come true: Hogwarts does exist!

Hogwarts does exist. It is full of sorcerers and sorcerers' apprentices - some good and some bad - just like here.

Magical thinking is taught to all apprentices, who are conveyed to and from the school by magical train.

I attended such a school in the Southern Highlands, and I was conveyed by steam train at the beginning and end of every term.

Magical thinking was taught so successfully that now Oz has her first saint, Mother Mary Mackillop, who has proved her magical powers by performing two miracles.

And how appropriate as Mother Mary set up little Hogwarts all over Oz to teach magical thinking.

And now she gets her just deserts - and so do we.

 

[Mole]

You're a cutie, Vic...

Edit: by the way, I enjoy looking up the old alchemical names for substances used in exothermic reactions.

Just as astronomers name the planets and their moons after Ancient Greek Gods and Shakespearean characters.

For the Ancient Greeks gave us our philosophy and Shakespeare gave us our language.