Certainty Abolishes Hope, And Robs Us Of

The Scientific Method," Thomas Henry Huxley Once Wrote, "is Nothing But The Normal Working Of The Human Mind." That Is To Say, When The Mind Is Working; That Is To Say Further, When It Is Engaged In Correcting Its Mistakes. Taking This Point Of View, We May Conclude That Science Is Not Physics, Biology, Or Chemistry — Is Not Even A ”subject " — But A Moral Imperative Drawn From A Larger Narrative Whose Purpose Is To Give Perspective, Balance, And Humility To Learning.

There Is No Way To Help A Learner To Be Disciplined, Active, And Thoroughly Engaged Unless He Perceives A Problem To Be A Problem Or Whatever Is To-be-learned As Worth Learning, And Unless He Plays An Active Role In Determining The Process Of Solution.

My Argument Is Limited To Saying That A Major New Medium Changes The Structure Of Discourse; It Does So By Encouraging Certain Uses Of The Intellect, By Favoring Certain Definitions Of Intelligence And Wisdom, And By Demanding A Certain Kind Of Content - In A Phrase, By Creating New Forms Of Truth-telling.

We Had Learned How To Invent Things, And The Question Of Why We Invent Things Receded In Importance. The Idea That If Something Could Be Done It Should Be Done Was Born In The Nineteenth Century. And Along With It, There Developed A Profound Belief In All The Principles Through Which Invention Succeeds: Objectivity, Efficiency, Expertise, Standardization, Measurement, And Progress. It Also Came To Be Believed That The Engine Of Technological Progress Worked Most Efficiently When People Are Conceived Of Not As Children Of God Or Even As Citizens But As Consumers-that Is To Say, As Markets.

Our Politics, Religion, News, Athletics, Education And Commerce Have Been Transformed Into Congenial Adjuncts Of Show Business, Largely Without Protest Or Even Much Popular Notice. The Result Is That We Are A People On The Verge Of Amusing Ourselves To Death.