Will 'Understanding' be Extinct by 2050?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by coberst

I think that within the next 50 years ‘understanding’ will be only seen in a museum. Do you agree?

No; I disagree. I think your premises lack rigor & your conclusion is unsubstantiated. The very fact of this discourse is evidence against your hypothesis.

[TheFaithfulStone]

Originally Posted by coberst

The bull that understands will hook at the Matador rather than the cape.
...
Understanding is generally not valuable in our society and so we have little comprehension of what it is.

So understanding is something we don't understand? My mind is blown.

I don't think I "understand" the distinction if my characterization is incorrect.

TFS

[pgrmdave]

Originally Posted by Turtle

The very fact of this discourse is evidence against your hypothesis.

I'll go one step further and say that most of this site goes against your hypothesis.

[paigetheoracle]

This is why schooling is failing children. We are treating them as machines instead of trying to get them to think. Socrates asked questions, not gave statements for this very reason ('What do you think?' not ' This is what I think and you must believe it without question'(defensive fear)). Statements are really questions in that you are asking whether what you believe is what they believe (have found to be true too). When the free flow of question and answer doesn't exist, it is because it is feared what will be said i.e. what questions will be asked of you by others or what statement you, yourself will give (Will I be attacked for opening my mouth and asking a question or will my statement be questioned instead of accepted? (The hell of forums/being on stage and speaking your lines). This is why we present our work before our peers, to prove not only the worth of our ideas but that they work in fact as well as theory (The proof of the pudding is in the eating). Every statement leads to a question and every question to a statement, that fuels discourse and leads to exploration, which means in an infinite universe, eternal progress (Life is a journey not a destination: 'How much further do I have to go?' 'Am I right or am I wrong?').

All thought is calculated accumulation (evidence for a viewpoint) - all action is thoughtless discharge of belief (energy/trial run). Without criticism we cannot percieve what we've done or its effect upon us and the world (Did we achieve what we set out to do? Do we need to do more? (Babbage and his computing machine). Those who don't want to hear criticism because they fear looking a fool, never learn or help society progress from their discoveries, whether it is the student of life or the supposed master (Defender of the faith or assailant upon the supposed walls of truth). Without feedback and 'the foolish question' we stay ignorant: In psychotherapy this is the hidden agreement between patient and therapist, not to bring up issues that they are both sensitive too - hence some are better at helper others than their colleagues because they have less baggage of their own (Not trying to hide stuff so that they appear superior to their patient but willing to admit that they are equally human i.e. fallible: The Great Oz Syndrome or The Emperors New Clothes versus Asterix and the Great Fight scenes where the two druids experiment upon themselves).
So what we have is todays vanity (celebrity and brittle ego's) versus history's blood and thunder teachers and equally honest and tough students, not afraid to look at themselves or the world.

Lastly, you might like to consider that what you're really interested in, you concentrate upon and learn in depth and that is mostly self taught. General,vague, inaccurate knowledge displays little interest in a subject area or even hatred (fear) of it and even life in general i.e. don't know or want to know about it (Those with no respect for others or themselves, which we term criminals because of their attitude: To despise them is to join them in their self denigration - to have patience and tolerance is to encourage them out of their shell (Good teacher/bad [no] teacher skills). We need to be brave ourselves to encourage others to be so too (it's easy to look down on others (and yourself) - harder to look up to the stars and into the future as yourself.

[coberst]

Originally Posted by paigetheoracle

This is why schooling is failing children. We are treating them as machines instead of trying to get them to think. Socrates asked questions, not gave statements for this very reason ('What do you think?' not ' This is what I think and you must believe it without question'(defensive fear)). Statements are really questions in that you are asking whether what you believe is what they believe (have found to be true too). When the free flow of question and answer doesn't exist, it is because it is feared what will be said i.e. what questions will be asked of you by others or what statement you, yourself will give (Will I be attacked for opening my mouth and asking a question or will my statement be questioned instead of accepted? (The hell of forums/being on stage and speaking your lines). This is why we present our work before our peers, to prove not only the worth of our ideas but that they work in fact as well as theory (The proof of the pudding is in the eating). Every statement leads to a question and every question to a statement, that fuels discourse and leads to exploration, which means in an infinite universe, eternal progress (Life is a journey not a destination: 'How much further do I have to go?' 'Am I right or am I wrong?').

All thought is calculated accumulation (evidence for a viewpoint) - all action is thoughtless discharge of belief (energy/trial run). Without criticism we cannot percieve what we've done or its effect upon us and the world (Did we achieve what we set out to do? Do we need to do more? (Babbage and his computing machine). Those who don't want to hear criticism because they fear looking a fool, never learn or help society progress from their discoveries, whether it is the student of life or the supposed master (Defender of the faith or assailant upon the supposed walls of truth). Without feedback and 'the foolish question' we stay ignorant: In psychotherapy this is the hidden agreement between patient and therapist, not to bring up issues that they are both sensitive too - hence some are better at helper others than their colleagues because they have less baggage of their own (Not trying to hide stuff so that they appear superior to their patient but willing to admit that they are equally human i.e. fallible: The Great Oz Syndrome or The Emperors New Clothes versus Asterix and the Great Fight scenes where the two druids experiment upon themselves).
So what we have is todays vanity (celebrity and brittle ego's) versus history's blood and thunder teachers and equally honest and tough students, not afraid to look at themselves or the world.

Lastly, you might like to consider that what you're really interested in, you concentrate upon and learn in depth and that is mostly self taught. General,vague, inaccurate knowledge displays little interest in a subject area or even hatred (fear) of it and even life in general i.e. don't know or want to know about it (Those with no respect for others or themselves, which we term criminals because of their attitude: To despise them is to join them in their self denigration - to have patience and tolerance is to encourage them out of their shell (Good teacher/bad [no] teacher skills). We need to be brave ourselves to encourage others to be so too (it's easy to look down on others (and yourself) - harder to look up to the stars and into the future as yourself.

Amen Brother!

If I did not already have so many good posts I would claim this one as my own. I think everyone could take this response as their begining of understanding; but it requires numerious vists to the library and a lot of thoutful contemplation to make it their own.