Kitteh Wrote:Ah, but you're attacking the source and its particular style of prose, and not the points brought up by the article in question.
I am working on my manuscript (as I have been for hours,) and I did so much volunteer work earlier today with such gusto that I drank three bottles of drinking water after, and my heart rate did not return to normal for 3 hours -- as after a session of running. I am pretty tired.
"Attacking the source" implies that I somehow am questioning its character without knowledge of its contents. That's like me saying "Kitteh is a filthy piece of $hit" instead of saying "Kitteh's argument is bad." You know that I didn't call you anything. It is perfectly fine to refuse to read a magazine further if you have determined from its contents that it is for elitist pricks. It is the same reason that people like me wish that MENSA should not exist -- arrogance and elitism are the founding principles of that entity's existence.
Quote:Can you honestly say whether these teachers then were able to change your mind towards a subject which you've had deep-seated feelings about? It seems that your premises dictate that all of our viewpoints are already formed much earlier, and that by the time you've reached 18 there's little hope in changing them. Yes, you may form a more complex perspective, but all college has really done is reinforce what was already there. What may have altered your decisions about what was interesting or not was then based on what you already choose to believe, not the quality of teacher.
Actually, a good professor can do WONDERS. That English professor taught me to love writing, and that's my life now. In his classes where I was there, there were 74 students going into finals, and 3 of them had a CHANCE at an A. I don't know about the other 2, but I earned my A. I was so proud, and my writing skills improved, and I went on the internet to practice my writing skills further. 10 years later here I am -- are you seriously going to tell me that my writing skills suck? I am not arrogant or anything, but as a professional writer that's gotten tons of good feedback, I don't need false modesty either.
Another prof, ranked #12 in the country, taught me the argumentational method of St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic priest. I am Jewish, what the hell do I need that for? Well, Aquinas believed in anticipating your opponent's strongest arguments, and refuting them before he even made them. If you look back in this thread, I provided you with 2 good anti-death penalty arguments even as I am pro-death penalty myself. I could go on, but you hopefully get the point. If you WANT to learn you will learn a fortune. It's sleeping in class that makes education go to waste.