Mar 23 ML Ch 42

Again, this chapter of our book describes the plight of youth is their unenlightened naivete. It is the power struggle of knowledge. "Knowledge is power" is a major theme of the book. None of the chapters I read has an author who suggested that he or she might be shy of having adequate knowlege but make many assertions that others, particularly young people, do not have it. The metaphor of being "armed with information" is used.

Knowledge is violence in the university. To know something is to use it in intellectual battle. To win is to gain followers, allegiance and credibility. To claim to others that they need to know something that you already know and can teach is to attempt conquest. Imperialism is not dead or discouraged. It is the practice of the Western university to colonize--not the body, land or property but the mind.

A professor gains status by making new or better discoveries or originalities. He or she is in competition with peers by being more enlightened--the greater the gap, the more the distinction. To portray others as naive or stupid is to the credit of the speaker to create the distinction. Thus the argument and the spirit of debate is born--a battle for superiority based upon persuasion and knowledge.

Teachers make students soldiers in this battle. They are taught the essay, to compete for grades, money, position. Those who adopt the teachers' ways of thinking do better. It empowers the teacher with followers and the students with accolades.

I think this has to do with suicide because this battle contributes a student's feeling of isolation and sense of meaninglessness. If the academic world is treated like a capitalist construction, education can be viewed as capital or a commodity rather than a discipline or expression. This is the teacher's role and the truest, most beneficial form of critical thinking--what can be done that is best rather than better.