The Logic Off Topic list

At 8:58 AM +0200 6/28/01, Hendrik Jan Veenstra wrote:
>Thoughts from the mind of Dennis Gunn, 27-06-2001:
>[to Howard]
>>You have raised an strong objection but have put forth no logic to
>>support it.  You (and Wilson Zorn as well) basically seem to take
>>issue with the idea of competition as a productive motivation and as
>>such of no interest to you and yet you have absolutely nothing to
>>gain from your objections but the (as of yet un-obtained)
>>satisfaction of seeing your ideas prevail over mine.  In other words
>>you are taking a position in a debate which you presumably hope to
>>win, but who's outcome is of no consequence beyond the mutual
>>amusement we share in pitting our ideas against each other, and yet
>>the very position you are taking is an attempt to deny your interest
>>the concept of competition.
>>
>>Is that irony or what?
>
>No, worse, it's misleading.  It's _you_ who, in the above posting,
>defines this thread to be a "debate", and by using such words you put
>it in the competition area -- from which all the rest of this
>pointless post follows.  The only conclusion the follows from the
>above, as far as I can see, as that indeed you view any contribution
>that's not in line with your own thoughts on the subject as
>"competition".

So you're you're a teacher?  Look in a dictionary.  The first entry 
in Websters New World says to debate is"to discuss opposing reasons". 
When Howard weighed in with "Hogwash...." he was taking an opposing 
point of view if there ever was one.

>After all, wouldn't it be pathetic
>for a 38-year old to comete with 18-year olds?

It would be particularly pathetic if the 18 year old looked in a 
dictionary whupped the 38 year olds butt.  By the way do you teach 
spelling?


Children debating adults.

I am particularly reminded of the following true story:

I was 8 years old and the school nurse was speaking to the school 
assembly about blood cells "there red ones and blue ones but really 
there is only one kind" she said.  So I raised my hand said "What 
about white blood cells?" she smiled and said there was "no such 
thing".  I was sure that was not true and said so.  So she asked 
where I got the information.  "From a movie" I said.  She laughed 
hard enough to make the 300 children and teachers get side aches then 
when the laughter died down enough for her to be heard said  "You 
should not trust everything I saw in Science Fiction movies".   Of 
course she was wrong but she was a 40 year old nurse and I was a 8 
year old kid so therefore she was right.

To this day I have wondered how she could have gotten where she was 
and not learned such a basic fact about biology.

So the next week when my favorite 3rd grade teacher told us that 
gravity was the result of the earth spinning.  I kind of decided I 
knew about all  I wanted to know to about teachers and started trying 
to concentrate on getting information from other sources.


Maybe your *refusal* to debate your students is pathetic.  Maybe they 
are worthy of a little more respect and a little less condescension. 
The teachers I respected, and there were some, were not quite as 
eager as you appear to be to dismiss the idea that an 18 year old 
might actually know something a 38 year old didn't.

Hey wow I still remember something I learned 34 years ago!!

Lucky Lucky.  Lucky.
-- 


                                 Dennis Gunn
                                 Mightyjohn@...

                  check out  MIGHTY JOHN HENRY's album "hot air head"
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