life – Bridge Roe: Where Thinking Matters

How are we to live?

How are we to live? It is a simple question that few wrestle with these days, and yet, in years past, many of the brightest minds could not seem to get past it. Have we evolved past this issue? I think each of us care deeply about how we live, but our concern for others, well, that seems to have waned these days. If only life were that simple. If our only concern was our life, that would be so much easier. The harsh reality is that our life is interconnected with other lives in a variety of ways. We are in families; we live in neighborhoods. We work with others; we socialize and worship with others. We are connected whether we like it or not, and yet, many of us live as if we are not, even when that connection is an important part of who we are.

If our only concern was ourselves, would it matter how we live? I am not sure it would. What would we be saying about our perceptions, assumptions and judgements? We would be asserting that they are always correct, because, in essence, they are, if our world is only about us. So many in our world live this way today, and yet depend on many others for their world. We see this attitude on the news, in government, in professional sports, in Hollywood and even, sadly in some churches. Addiction to self is a scary thing that can overtake all of us if we are not careful, but one of the remedies is to look at what you have and ask, why do I have it? News professionals depend on those who watch them. Government officials depend on those who elect them, and the pattern continues for professional athletes, actors and musicians. Be wary of thinking you are the center of your universe because eventually you will realize, either by self reflection or harsh reality, that you are not.

A concern for how we are to live is more complicated you than might think. It is actually a concern for others, a desire to live a proper life, an intent to be honorable, truthful … you get the idea. We live in strange times. Everything we do these days seems to push us deeper into our own little world. We seek to live in our own private Wonderland, and today, we can through technology. Everything can be about us because an egocentric world is acceptable and even promoted. Not only are you living for yourself, but you are being given the means to do it more and more. You can spend hours online … by yourself. You can communicate with the world … without leaving your home. You can even work from your home. These trends push us away from others and deeper into an addiction to ourselves, which is our own private Wonderland. Let me ask a question: do you wake up each morning, slide to the edge of your bed, and before your feet hit the ground, ask your self how you should live today in consideration of others?

Many wrestled with this question in the past for good reason. The picture above is from a book by Hugo Grotius entitled, “On the Law of War and Peace.” In his book, he argued that international law should be based on natural law, which is derived from human reason. One of the assumed truths of natural law is the belief that moral principals and rights are inherent in human nature. These rights are believed to be revealed through human reason. You can probably guess the assumption natural law makes about the nature of man. Those who ascribe to natural law also embrace the “overlap thesis” which asserts that law and morality are intwined (they “overlap” each other) and indwell in us, and it is this indwelling that moves individuals to inherent acts of goodness. This “overlap thesis” has been a huge part of educational theory and therefore, it has become part of the fabric of life in the West. We depend on our reason for everything. We rarely do research, study the facts or take our time before making decisions these day, and it is because of the overlap thesis that we do this. We live as if we are morality and that our logic and reason are without flaws, and we can do that because we live in Wonderland where we are morality. We can only live this reality if life is about us. If we are concerned about others and seeking to live a life of honor and integrity, well, Wonderland becomes a nightmare.

When considering how we should live, there is an important question we must ask. What is the difference between good and evil? In our current discussion, this question seems to be fairly important, especially in regard to how we are to live. Are they relative? Is living for self with no concern for others an inherent act for good or for evil? If we live in our corner of the world and do not infringe on others, are we being evil or good? Depends on what you are doing, right? Can we say we are living for good when we our only concern is for ourselves? If we isolate and self protect, are those considered acts for good, even if to do both means infringing on someone else? These are all hard questions, and every one of them depends on what you consider to be good. If goodness is defined by you then the world is your oyster and there is little that would be defined as evil, but if you are a citizen and in community with others, then living your life just got more complicated because you must consider their views as much as your own. If you do that, then you are no longer in Wonderland.

Today, everyone is quick to judge others with little concern for others or even worse, little concern on whether their judgements are true. We tend to make everything personal and when we live in isolation (When I say isolation I mean either living by yourself or living in a small community where everyone holds the same absolute beliefs.), everything becomes personal, and the idea of truth becomes hard to find. What if we are wrong? What if our perception is false or there is another explanation? Can we know the intent of the heart or the motivation behind one’s actions? We cannot and yet we live as if we have that power because we are increasingly living lives that are isolated and self-centered. I don’t see a lot of self reflection, humility or accountability taking place in the world. Even when caught in a lie or in a wrong accusation, most will offer no admission of guilt, no apology and no path towards restoration. We need to only look at our own politicians for countless examples of this. For me, the issue comes back to truth. Do we care about what is true and right anymore or do we care only about ourselves?

Truth, commonly defined, is conformity to fact or reality, but what if we are our own reality? The more isolated we become, the more truth becomes relative. How can we determine what is true and right without community? I don’t think we can and in our current state, I don’t think we can expect to move closer to truth, especially when we live in Wonderland. Everywhere we look community is breaking down, which, in turn, breaks down life the way it is meant to be lived. It is community that holds us accountable and teaches us right from wrong. It is the older who teach the younger about truth through experience in community, which brings us back to the question, how are we to live?

I close with this. Dark and light are not opposites. Dark is the absence of light. I think good and evil are the same. Evil is the absence of good, but what if we are the good? Can there be evil in Wonderland? I don’t think there can, which is our problem. Today, most believe man is inherently good and evil is an after thought, but a look at culture will immediately question that thinking. Can we find truth by ourselves? Can our actions always be good if we are the judge and jury? Speaking only for myself, an emphatic no! However, I think the question, “how am I to live” is a good place to start. If you are asking yourself that question, then, I think you are stepping on the right path. If you are not, then maybe you should get off your current path. Living in Wonderland is a great thing until you become tired of yourself, and we all eventually grow weary of even ourselves. We were created to be in community! Blessings!

Education, Painted and Soiled:

Part V: True Education

In 1916, John Dewey referred to education as “a social process—a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” While I think Dewey got many things about education wrong, I think he got this one right. Education is a social process. It is life and for a lifetime, but defining it seems to limit it. Definitions are ends for the means they serve. Education, for me, cannot be put into a box, nor should it be, which suggests that I am engaged in a fool’s errand. Let’s find out.

Aristotle implied that education was not formal instruction nor was it just knowledge; it was much more, but what was it? For Aristotle, it involved developing both intellectual and moral virtues through practice and experience, and it was for a specific purpose, to produce flourishing human beings. This idea of human flourishing was, for Aristotle, the ultimate telos, i.e., the end goal, for all human beings, but this telos implies something else about education.

In this post, I will look at education from one last angle with the hope that I see something that makes sense to me. I want to look at education from the perspective of how we experience it. One author I recently read referenced Erich Fromm and his distinction between having and being. This is as good of a lens as any other to use. Fromm defines “having” and “being” as modes of existence and as different ways of understanding ourselves, the world in which we live and those living in this world with us.

According to Fromm, “having” is concerned with ownership and possession with a focus on controlling; “being,” on the other hand, is rooted in love and concern with a focus on shared experience and productive activity. Being engages the world while getting seeks to possess and control the world. Fromm saw these as two modes of human existence: the mode of having and the mode of being. The mode of having perceives everything as a potential possession while the mode of being perceives self as the carrier of certain properties and abilities.

Fromm thought “having” emphasized a duality between the owner and the thing owned. It was a view of the world with self at the center and all other things arranged in a circle around self. They are distinct from self and their relationship to self is only through their ownership by self. Being is about those qualities that merge with our existence … skills that belong to us that we can exercise, but these skills cannot be taken from us. They are part of us. They are ours. What Fromm proposed was that we have a choice on how to live. Do we live lives having or being? Fromm emphasized that there was a difference between a society set to live for people or for things. Where did that difference take root? I think you know the answer.

Looking at education through the ideas of “having” and “being” clarify some things for me. In one sense, education can be something possessed as in, “I have a degree.” In this sense, education is one of those things to be possessed by self. It is part of the circle of stuff surrounding self, but then in another sense education can become part of us in the sense of “being” educated. If education is merely a paper on a wall, then, yes, there is a chance that I could lose that piece of paper, but if I am educated and continue to be educated then I lose nothing and gain everything.

This approach forces me to confront my pursuit of education. I have been looking at education as something to define, but I have learned that such an approach is misaligned and the pursuit untenable. Education is not a thing to possess but instead it is a part of being, of who we are, or at least it should be. If education is as Dewey says—a social process—then we must treat it as a social process. Education, then, is like other aspects of our social world. It is akin to the interaction of family. It is friendships and courtships. It is an evening with friends, a day at work or even a family vacation. How do we define these things? The quick answer is we don’t because they are part of who we are as social beings. We learn these things over the course of a lifetime, starting as children. We are taught by our parents, progress into school and then into college. We eventually have our own children and start the cycle all over again.

If education is “being” then it will define who we are more than we care to admit. It is not a neutral process but one that will impact us. In the same way that our parents defined who we are as children, education will have the same impact if we grant it the right. The push to educate your children at younger ages—there are many K4 programs out there—is a push to replace your impact on your own children with an educational one. This impact is masquerading as knowledge, either a core body of knowledge or a survey of chosen content. There is a hidden curriculum inside this content, and that hidden curriculum is this: every teacher and school teach from a perspective of the world which they will present to your children as true and right. Do you know what perspective of the world your school presents to your children as true and right? Many schools will claim that their focus is only on knowledge and content. Well, that is a perspective of the world, is it not? Shouldn’t you be the one who defines what is right and true for your four-year-old? Do your beliefs and values align with the beliefs and values of the school your children attend? These are good questions to have on your mind when considering educational choices.

As I close this series on education, let me sum up what I have learned. First, education is not just content. It is so much more and no matter how hard we try to make it just about content, it will never be just about content. Two, education is not one dimensional. It is multi-dimensional, and it is always social. Aristotle presented the idea that education is about the posture of wisdom, heath and morality and a lifetime of movement, and there are implications if he is even a little right. Third, the foundation of education is morality whether one cares to admit that or not. Fourth, education will change culture. If we do not understand this aspect of education, then we are doomed to be overrun by those who do. To change culture, you must gain control of the schools. History tells us that there are many who have understood this and used this understanding to their benefit. Fifth, with great wisdom comes great responsibility. One does not gain education for only knowledge’s sake. Education provides power. Finally, education is a social process. It is akin to life and something we should engage for our entire lives in a manner akin to friendships, marriages and families. We work at these over the course of our lifetimes. We should do the same in our educational interactions.

There is much more to address inside this topic of education, but for me, this concludes this series on education. Remember, thinking matters and so does education. Until next time …