Why are tech titans afraid of students reading primary sources? They develop the one skill algorithms can't replicate: the ability to think for themselves.
The Ministry of Truth must be reckoned with. Besides its dandy 5th-grade summaries, it uses soul-deadening textbooks and slippery AI chatbots. At least some AIs hyperlink to the primary sources.
Many primary sources are accessible (Laura Ingles Wilder), some are not, and these require applied effort due to length, vocab, syntax (Shakespeare). The student who applies the effort will achieve outsized returns. I've viewed a live teacher in person as vital for the student to apply the effort.
What are the best options for the self-taught student who needs encouragement to understand a difficult primary source or for a homeschooling parent?
Thank you for this amazing view of today's ideas on education. This same view impelled me to reread Stephen Greenblatt's Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power. He forces me to look again at structures of power and how they collapse. He uses engaging language to develop his reasons in which you delight.
Legal judgements, legal arguments and promulgated acts were prescribed reading which could not be ignored and only had to be read in their entirety. Of course, this was before those pesky 'abridged copies' were around.
The Ministry of Truth must be reckoned with. Besides its dandy 5th-grade summaries, it uses soul-deadening textbooks and slippery AI chatbots. At least some AIs hyperlink to the primary sources.
Many primary sources are accessible (Laura Ingles Wilder), some are not, and these require applied effort due to length, vocab, syntax (Shakespeare). The student who applies the effort will achieve outsized returns. I've viewed a live teacher in person as vital for the student to apply the effort.
What are the best options for the self-taught student who needs encouragement to understand a difficult primary source or for a homeschooling parent?
Michael, you might find what you’re looking for by checking out The Literary Life Podcast and The House of Humane Letters.
So grateful for your articles. Another benefit of classical education is meaningful timeless relationships with ourselves and others.
Thank you for this amazing view of today's ideas on education. This same view impelled me to reread Stephen Greenblatt's Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power. He forces me to look again at structures of power and how they collapse. He uses engaging language to develop his reasons in which you delight.
Legal judgements, legal arguments and promulgated acts were prescribed reading which could not be ignored and only had to be read in their entirety. Of course, this was before those pesky 'abridged copies' were around.