It is no secret that schools have become a feminized environment. It wasn't always that way. There was a time where school was a form of contest and a rite of passage marking you a man.
It’s also interesting to think how watered down and unimagined are oral presentations now compared to what they must have been in an oral culture. People spend countless hours on PowerPoint slides, finding just the right picture, perfecting their notes. Then they simply read from the script in a mechanistic way. Perhaps one way would be to ban certain texts and eliminate written exams for certain subjects like history that boys inherently seem to love and to debate. I have noticed how female students tend to be extremely nervous when there is what I consider healthy intellectual debate. Then they inadvertently eliminate this healthy debate through crushing speech codes and the threat of cancel culture. Sad.
Neurological research demonstrates that our clearest, most detailed memories are associated with strong emotions—another fundamental function of acquiring knowledge through agonistic contests with the teacher or peers, with glory or humiliation hanging in the balance. A debate win was literally unforgettable.
Within 50 years of its first female graduates, a Covid vaccination was required to take online classes at my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. That seems like a good snapshot of the feminization of the University. There is safe and then there is SAFE.
This is a remarkable essay. Let me say that again: This is a remarkable essay. I have never considered its realities beyond questioning (privately) the seriousness of any enterprise where men and women are mixed—like our foolish military. Put a woman on the deck of the Pequod and the book falls over.
Excellent. I believe that the adoption of an intentional language can be of great benefit, practically and symbolically, to the dissident sphere. Latin may fit the bit, but I also consider that Esperanto might serve better. Some might scoff at this, Eperanto having roots and associations through the progressive left, but it has some unique qualities. It is quicker to learn than Latin, but is no less rigorous in its rules of grammer and tests semantic understanding- it is simple but deep. It is hyper-Europeam, being a kind of concentration of Romance and Germanic tongues with terms chosen for their utility and aesthetic power. Also, unlike Latin it was designed specifically to be spoken, using a cadence like natural Italian; Latin as we have received it appears to have been optimised for brevity in writing. Either way, it would be no bad thing to take up a formal language in this "dark academy".
What a fantastic read. I am going down the journey that our current education needs some tweeking. I love reading the history about how we arrived to this point. I write about the introduction of BJJ before teaching maths and how we measure what success is?
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a great dramatization of what you are talking about here. It's still fresh in my mind because I only read it a few months ago. I appreciate what you say about how this cannot be unpicked from the world we live in as it is. If you were pressed to say what were the benefits of this change, what would you say? I'm not sure how well I'd have done in an adversarial schooling; although perhaps the fact I never had it is the reason I think I wouldn't have coped with it.
You would have grown up in a world in which, even if you didn’t go to school, you would have learned a trade and thus been brought into the world of men.
There have been numerous studies on our educational system, and you are right, it has been set up intentionally or not, to cater to woman. They have found out that boys learn better while doing things, while moving. Some studies show boys learn 80 % of what they teach in school while shooting hoops with friends, or skateboarding or whatever, but they learn best while moving, doing something.
It’s also interesting to think how watered down and unimagined are oral presentations now compared to what they must have been in an oral culture. People spend countless hours on PowerPoint slides, finding just the right picture, perfecting their notes. Then they simply read from the script in a mechanistic way. Perhaps one way would be to ban certain texts and eliminate written exams for certain subjects like history that boys inherently seem to love and to debate. I have noticed how female students tend to be extremely nervous when there is what I consider healthy intellectual debate. Then they inadvertently eliminate this healthy debate through crushing speech codes and the threat of cancel culture. Sad.
That's pretty much it. You have a good grasp of the current problem.
Neurological research demonstrates that our clearest, most detailed memories are associated with strong emotions—another fundamental function of acquiring knowledge through agonistic contests with the teacher or peers, with glory or humiliation hanging in the balance. A debate win was literally unforgettable.
Yes, exactly.
Within 50 years of its first female graduates, a Covid vaccination was required to take online classes at my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. That seems like a good snapshot of the feminization of the University. There is safe and then there is SAFE.
So, so true.
I did not realize what I missed out on because the school went co-ed until you pointed it out yesterday.
But there's no doubt that the school has transformed from a bedrock experience to mush.
Some great thoughts here. I’ve been on a Latin bender the last few months, Gregorian chant, reading hymns I like in English in their original Latin, etc. Here is a post I wrote last week on the Latin hymn, Dies Irae: https://open.substack.com/pub/codyilardo/p/dies-irae?r=1q8ur0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
There is something to be said knowing that this language has been the sword in the hand of so many prominent men for so long.
Also, great points about school as war games: Maybe in a few generations my grandsons can know what that is like.
We can hope.
This is a remarkable essay. Let me say that again: This is a remarkable essay. I have never considered its realities beyond questioning (privately) the seriousness of any enterprise where men and women are mixed—like our foolish military. Put a woman on the deck of the Pequod and the book falls over.
Caesari omnia uno tempore errant agenda.
Thanks. I think Ong is another of these older authors who insights are becoming ever more prescient and timely.
What language is your “handle”? And it means…?
Greek meaning “a mystery.”
Excellent. I believe that the adoption of an intentional language can be of great benefit, practically and symbolically, to the dissident sphere. Latin may fit the bit, but I also consider that Esperanto might serve better. Some might scoff at this, Eperanto having roots and associations through the progressive left, but it has some unique qualities. It is quicker to learn than Latin, but is no less rigorous in its rules of grammer and tests semantic understanding- it is simple but deep. It is hyper-Europeam, being a kind of concentration of Romance and Germanic tongues with terms chosen for their utility and aesthetic power. Also, unlike Latin it was designed specifically to be spoken, using a cadence like natural Italian; Latin as we have received it appears to have been optimised for brevity in writing. Either way, it would be no bad thing to take up a formal language in this "dark academy".
This made me think of Ender's Game.
Perhaps a solution to the quandary you pose is an alien invasion.
So what you are saying is that my xitter/discord arguments/the constant arguments of Christian twitter weren't entirely pontless.
Not entirely.
What a fantastic read. I am going down the journey that our current education needs some tweeking. I love reading the history about how we arrived to this point. I write about the introduction of BJJ before teaching maths and how we measure what success is?
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a great dramatization of what you are talking about here. It's still fresh in my mind because I only read it a few months ago. I appreciate what you say about how this cannot be unpicked from the world we live in as it is. If you were pressed to say what were the benefits of this change, what would you say? I'm not sure how well I'd have done in an adversarial schooling; although perhaps the fact I never had it is the reason I think I wouldn't have coped with it.
You would have grown up in a world in which, even if you didn’t go to school, you would have learned a trade and thus been brought into the world of men.
There have been numerous studies on our educational system, and you are right, it has been set up intentionally or not, to cater to woman. They have found out that boys learn better while doing things, while moving. Some studies show boys learn 80 % of what they teach in school while shooting hoops with friends, or skateboarding or whatever, but they learn best while moving, doing something.
Yeah, unfortunately. You cannot put away all the bad stuff and keep all the good stuff. They come together.