Truly excellent post, and a special thumbs up to the use of McGuffin in this context.
You are describing Critical Thinking Skills, something that gives people the ability to recognize and dismiss propaganda, among other things. Critical Thinking is how we are meant to process information, and without it, people substitute the kind of chaotic thinking you describe.
Conservatives recognize Critical Thinking Skills as dangerous to their important propaganda machine, so controlling education, and suppressing the overt teaching of Critical Thinking Skills is an important on going mission.
I was lucky to have three years in high school with a subversive English teacher that used his subject to teach us Critical Thinking Skills, and hone them. I didn’t recognize what he had been up to until years later, and I was so pleased that he was so much more subversive than I ever knew.
In 10th grade English, we had to write a few papers where we had to defend a position, using strictly documented sources. That taught us how to organize our thoughts, and rely on sources, not our own opinions.
In 11th grade, we had Shakespeare 1, in which we read several plays, and discussed them in class from the directors perspective so we had to decide how to best tell the story, and defend our choices. The desks were arranged in a giant circle, so that when you were debating a point, you had to face the person you were debating with. The ultimate lesson was that the objective was to decide on the best idea, not just win the debate with your inferior concept, and that sometimes means leaving your own idea behind, in favor of the better one. We learned that there is no shame in acknowledging an objectively better idea.
12th grade was Shakespeare 2, and more polishing of our skills.
I thought we were just learning Shakespeare, whom he taught me to love to this day, decades later. It wasn’t until years after high school, when I was listening to Rush Limbaugh when he first came on the scene, and wondered why his obvious propaganda wasn’t seducing me like it was seducing other listeners. That was when I realized that my Critical Thinking Skills were better than most peoples,’ and that all tracked back to Mr. Clark’s English classes. He’s the one that taught me how to think properly, as I thought I was just enjoying Shakespeare.
I tried to get in touch with Mr Clark at one point, but he had passed away about 5 years earlier, so I honor him by talking about him now and then. Easily the most influential teacher of my life, the kind of teacher ALL teachers should aspire to be.
Its not formally correct, but it’s understandable through other possessive rules. Like “MrscottyTay’s” or “HugeNerd’s”
The English language is more complex than just what the posh prescribed formal rules indicate. They’re guidelines rather than doctrines to live by. Even though this isn’t quite a great example of it but our language becomes a lot more playful and colourful through the breaking of such rules.
It’s an understandable mistake, but it’s also one of those things that gets drilled into you while learning English. I’m all for breaking rules in English when it’s beneficial to the tone, meaning, or something else. But it’s just a confusing error that does nothing to justify its use.
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Truly excellent post, and a special thumbs up to the use of McGuffin in this context.
You are describing Critical Thinking Skills, something that gives people the ability to recognize and dismiss propaganda, among other things. Critical Thinking is how we are meant to process information, and without it, people substitute the kind of chaotic thinking you describe.
Conservatives recognize Critical Thinking Skills as dangerous to their important propaganda machine, so controlling education, and suppressing the overt teaching of Critical Thinking Skills is an important on going mission.
I was lucky to have three years in high school with a subversive English teacher that used his subject to teach us Critical Thinking Skills, and hone them. I didn’t recognize what he had been up to until years later, and I was so pleased that he was so much more subversive than I ever knew.
In what way did he teach you critical thinking skills?
In 10th grade English, we had to write a few papers where we had to defend a position, using strictly documented sources. That taught us how to organize our thoughts, and rely on sources, not our own opinions.
In 11th grade, we had Shakespeare 1, in which we read several plays, and discussed them in class from the directors perspective so we had to decide how to best tell the story, and defend our choices. The desks were arranged in a giant circle, so that when you were debating a point, you had to face the person you were debating with. The ultimate lesson was that the objective was to decide on the best idea, not just win the debate with your inferior concept, and that sometimes means leaving your own idea behind, in favor of the better one. We learned that there is no shame in acknowledging an objectively better idea.
12th grade was Shakespeare 2, and more polishing of our skills.
I thought we were just learning Shakespeare, whom he taught me to love to this day, decades later. It wasn’t until years after high school, when I was listening to Rush Limbaugh when he first came on the scene, and wondered why his obvious propaganda wasn’t seducing me like it was seducing other listeners. That was when I realized that my Critical Thinking Skills were better than most peoples,’ and that all tracked back to Mr. Clark’s English classes. He’s the one that taught me how to think properly, as I thought I was just enjoying Shakespeare.
Mr. Clark was a flat out fucking genius.
deleted by creator
I tried to get in touch with Mr Clark at one point, but he had passed away about 5 years earlier, so I honor him by talking about him now and then. Easily the most influential teacher of my life, the kind of teacher ALL teachers should aspire to be.
it’s means it is
It can also be a possessive for it
Um, no? Who told you that? **Its **is already possessive. Like hers, his, ours, theirs.
Its not formally correct, but it’s understandable through other possessive rules. Like “MrscottyTay’s” or “HugeNerd’s”
The English language is more complex than just what the posh prescribed formal rules indicate. They’re guidelines rather than doctrines to live by. Even though this isn’t quite a great example of it but our language becomes a lot more playful and colourful through the breaking of such rules.
It’s an understandable mistake, but it’s also one of those things that gets drilled into you while learning English. I’m all for breaking rules in English when it’s beneficial to the tone, meaning, or something else. But it’s just a confusing error that does nothing to justify its use.
N’o.
Just remember this handy song from Strong Bad:
Oh, if you want it be possessive, it’s just I-T-S But if it’s supposed to be a contraction, then it’s I-T-apostrophe-S…Scalawag
https://youtu.be/yc2udEpyPpU