Mixing a few nice quotes from Alcibiades here, because 1700 pages of Plato isn't entirely filled with strange discussions about shoes and horses.
This scheme you have in mind - teaching what you don't know and haven't bothered to learn - your scheme, my good fellow, is crazy. Because, my dear Alcibiades, when an individual or a city with no intelligence is at liberty to do what he or it wants, what do you think the likely result will be ? For example, if he's sick and has the power to do whatever he likes - without medical insight but with such a dictator's power that nobody criticises him - what's going to happen ? Isn't it likely his health will be ruined ? And in a ship, if someone were free to do what he liked, but was completely lacking in insight and skill in navigation, don't you see what would happen to him and his fellow sailors ? They would all die. You are wedded to stupidity, my good fellow, stupidity in the highest degree - our discussion and your own words convict you of it.
So people have to be competent to hold a position of responsibility?
ReplyDeleteYeah, but with sass. :)
ReplyDeleteThough really it's more that you should be competent to hold a position of responsibility. And dare I say it, the idea of a "city" with no intelligence being "at liberty to do what it wants" smells awfully familiar...
Also, looking at this from a very different perspective, I see people trying to do science outreach who have the best of intentions but really, really shouldn't. Lots of different applications of this.
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor Then doesn't it fall down to the matter of what is the 'appropriate' level of competence for each position of responsibility, and who gets to set the rules?
ReplyDeleteWhich will lead to the dilemma that each individual trying assess this level will consider it on a personal level: what will I do in that man's shoes? Must we 'democratically' unite all these points of view into a unified level, or give someone that responsibility.... which both defers answering the question and opens a whole can of worms where the people judging competence are in a position to set the rules that govern themselves.
Does *that* remind you of a certain group of people that both hold office, set the rules for others and are their own judges as to whether they are competent for their position?
Matter Beam There are many different systems of assessing competence, setting rules and enforcing rules in different circumstances. Those are not always performed by the same people. Certainly I can't think of any group who holds all of these as absolutes. Many groups set and enforce their own internal rules collectively without external oversight, but all are subject to the judiciary - which only enforces common rules, but does not set them. And most do have oversight of independent groups of their peers.
ReplyDeleteMatter Beam - I'll call him by name. Donald Trump.
ReplyDelete