Closing of the American Mind: Failure of American Higher Ed

[oshory]

@verwoestijning It's private

[timray99]

young man....amen....my hand is on my heart.....it is well to see the fire still burns

[KevZen2000]

Post-modernism, is just another superstition, that we hold today. This is the typical college nonsense, that is coming out of the 'educational system,' which is more about indoctrinating the youth to believe in something, to make them easier to control. If you believe in post-modernism, you're likely to believe in almost everything.

[haupper]

"Postmodernists are ghosts attacking castles of stone." HA! that's very funny.

[grandmasterqz]

Though I found some truth to what Baudrillard states in his book, intelligence of evil or the lucidity pact, Postmodernists in general try to mold reality into their preconceived notions of it.

[combustible420]

The issue lies in the education. FreeDUMB robbed the people. Phreesmart can help a person get it back. If one wishes to control what isn't much of a self-controlled thing any more(the mind), they should heed my words. Copy a dictionary and become ambidextrous. Seriously folks, ilk, kin, kine of the pastures. The realest time right now is noW. So go and win it. Life is standing and waiting for you all the time. Go and get it. This dude is speaking truth, I, on the other, am just typing it. go now

[oik2]

You are a dumbass

[MrNobleSavagery]

MrCropper; in heavily relying upon Bloom to--lets be honest--to support your accusations against the current academia--which are born out of Randian Objectivism--there is an extremely important point that you did not bring up, but which should.

In this same book, Allan Bloom also understood that Martin Heidegger's teachings are the most powerful intellectual force of our times.

[MrNobleSavagery]

And we all know what happens when Heidegger is implemented upon Rand; Rand goes bye bye.

What is even better is that Bloom provides a lucid account of how the Left assimilated/appropriated/raped Nietzsche and Heidegger into its amoeba. Whats great about this insight is that it assists one's understanding of how the Foucaults and those who utilized Derrida for the sake of equality--contemporary leftists--are frauds because beneath the surface they are perpetually crying for the death of Marx.

[SpazzzDog]

That is a false characterization of postmodernism. Postmodernists believe truth is possible, but the process of finding truth is never done and is always changing. People like Rand who believe they have found THE Truths of the ages are intellectually stagnant because they stop searching for truth and close the mind to alternative possibilities, especially those which contradict their assumptions..

[LesMasque]

This guy is a joke.

[DanMorgan98]

Hey Cropper! You are not an intellectual. The closing of the American mind posits that the masses are profoundly ignorant and that the smart guys, which includes Bloom and those who think like him, will instruct the ignorant masses on how they should think. Grow a fucking brain.

[fomastephanovitch]

Can you quote a passage in Bloom's book which says this is the case?

I assumed it only applied to the running of universities, which is kind of intuitive you'd hope.

I don't like the idea of some idiot savant running the local gas station or even the government - bit dangerous as they tend to get carried away...

[MrNobleSavagery]

Your comment further adds to my suspicion that followers of Chomsky bastardize anything into oblivion that happens to be unfortunate enough to wander within the reach of their feeble, incompetent fingers. Anything that is not born out of a slavishly sychophantic-socialist womb is evil.

[SpazzzDog]

Got that book. I read the first chapter and will eventually read the whole thing.

[losse5656]

progress?

[clonetrooper84]

too much editing, just let it flow if you can.

[lexrex3]

I totally agree with you that there are absolutes which we know to be true. And science is not a faith. There are known facts and there are things which are theories and should be admitted to be theories if they are not known to be true. Everything that happens has a logical reason, but we may not always know the reason. Science is the search for truth not a faith.

[vos360]

Thank you MrCropper, that was a breath of fresh air. However, what is your take on Friedrich Nietzsche's idea of perspectivism?

[MrCropper]

"what is your take on Friedrich Nietzsche's idea of perspectivism?"

I've never heard of it, unless you're talking about it in terms I haven't heard. Where did you hear that term?...

[vos360]

Well, after reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra, I stumbled upon Nietzsche's "perspectivism" while searching the internet for more information about the man. It is listed on more than a few websites; Wikipedia is one you may find it at, although, some people are skeptical of Wiki-Understandable.

[vos360]

Perspectivism from Wiki: means that there are many possible conceptual schemes, or perspectives which determine any possible judgment of truth or value that we may make; this implies that no way of seeing the world can be taken as definitively "true", but does not necessarily propose that all perspectives are equally valid.

[vos360]

While I do not recall Nietzsche ever writing about perspectivism, word for word, it can be deduced that this definition does fit, quite well, into a description of his opinions concerning truths, absolutes, relativism and values. However, the only works I've read so far by this profound human being are Thus Spoke Zarathustra and currently, The Gay Science. There are plenty more opportunities for "perspectivism" to arise in his later works.

[vos360]

Unless, of course, you have read otherwise, or this label is a manifestation of contemporary scholarship, which is highly possible. But according to the definition, and Friedrich Nietzsche himself, what are your thoughts on that? Allan Bloom highly impressed me The Closing of the America Mind, although I'm not entirely sure there could be anything close to universal agreement on his analysis of marriage and the role of the female as it should be.

[vos360]

With*** It (female's role) makes sense, but I don't believe society can return to that, um, traditional layout, and besides, too much has happened socially, for better and for worse, more for worse, since the sixties.

[Randemonium1]

@MrCropper How can you quote Bloom, when you don't understand Nietzsche's ideas?

[Meibukan]

The Closing of the American Mind is mind-bogglingly stupid from an educational point of you. Here are the Great Thoughts, let's shove them down the throat of students, because that's what they need to know.

Way to set back educational reform 100 years. Where's John Dewey when you need him?

[grantsinmypants2]

Great thought.

[AestheticizeAnalog]

Dewey? Lets continue to destroy the minds and thinking skills of individuals.

[twelvefifty]

this post-modern culture hass lost their gripp on reality. i don't believe in your institutions. freedom of choice is what we have, freedom from choice is what they want.this is your life... even if it's in the confine of this MATRIX style world. the powers that be are nothing compaired to the powers of being...and that's me and that's you. like it or not.

[csbellina]

well said. i discovered objectivism because of you. i may not agree with you on EVERYTHING but you are definately doing a great thing here.

[underdog3]

I have that book except its hollowed out and I use it to hid things.

What makes you an expert on intellectualism?

[MrCropper]

"What makes you an expert on intellectualism?"

Anyone watching me who concurs.

[underdog3]

If 6 people think your an expert and 7 people think I am an expert does that make my opinion more valid?

I really dont understand how someone can be an expert on that topic and where you think you get your authority from.

[politicomark]

John Stossel is an hypocritical asshat who only tells the side of the story that fits his self-interested rightwing philosophies. The fact that you are all up in praise of him tells me you are most probably one of these NeoCon cretins who thinks personal selfishness and tearing down the framework of govt and the infrastructure it supports is a good thing. You can put all the intellectual puffery you want on your "Wild West, my neighbors be damned" philosphy you want. I ain't buying it.

[i2aymond]

"Parsons was Winston's fellow employee at the Ministry of Truth. He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms—one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the thought police, the stability of the Party depended."

[CadicusTheDamned]

Philosophy is sort of worthless these days.

I prefer science. It produces technology and is understandable.

[MrCropper]

"Philosophy is sort of worthless these days.

I prefer science. It produces technology and is understandable."

Even science isn't safe from the nonsense:

watch?v=HdkJZAy3pb4

[CadicusTheDamned]

Eh, I'm watching it, but I can't really agree with everything you're saying. I follow the evidence where ever it leads regardless of my personal philosophy. Quantum physics has been backed up with solid evidence by the Halycon (sp?) atom smasher. Also, string theory is mathematically sound, but our technology has not advanced to the point where we can test it yet.

BTW: No one understands quantum physics. It is counterintuitive to our minds that have evolved in a medium sized environment.

[CorporalW44]

What are you talking about, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism all embrace quantum physics in their own way. I'll give you that the Western mind, with its focus on objects, does indeed find it hard to comprehend quantum physics.

[CadicusTheDamned]

That's fascinating, and I hadn't heard that Eastern religions embrace quantum physics so readily. Any books you can recommend?

[CorporalW44]

'The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why' by Richard E. Nisbett

[CorporalW44]

You should learn what philosophy actually is. There has to be a question, there has to be a "problem" for scientists to put their mind to solving, hence they have to do philosophy first. Philosophy is the asking of questions to see where they lead. And how do define 'worth' in your evaluation of philosophy?  Like all the high-paying jobs nowadays don't require you to think for yourself and question things, so why bother studying philosophy?

[CadicusTheDamned]

I did take Philosophy 101, thank you.

I'm more referring to Post Modern philosophy of the Azrienoch variety when I said simply philosophy. My mistake. By worthless, I meant that it does produce much of anything with substance.

[JohananRaatz]

Mr. Cropper;

Let me give you some advice. Once someone becomes a full-blown sophist you will almost never be able to get them to see the truth through direct arguments.

So let me suggest something more indirect. They believe there are no absolute truths right? So just start lying to them. Lie to them in terms of their own rhetoric.

Once they catch on to your lies, defend those lies by saying that because absolute truth doesn't really exist anyway, that there is no such thing as a lie.

[JohananRaatz]

I remember in my college my philosophy professors used to like the fact that I could take a position and argue it vigorously. One of them complained to me privately that many of the others he had in previous classes simply summarized others arguments but ultimately ended their papers by suspending judgment as to which view was correct.

[JohananRaatz]

Mr. Cropper this gives me an excellent chance to try to explain my straussian neoconservativism to you. It's really crypto-objectivism. The idea is that once sophistry becomes so entrenched that it starts to leak into the political sphere you have to compensate by feeding the public fluffy jibberish while secretly basing ones actions on objective reasons. It's the only way to prevent the inmates from running the asylum.

[brainpolice2]

That's basically machavelianism. Incredibly dangerous.

[JohananRaatz]

It's all because of the blasted critical theorists injecting relativism into every field imaginable. They are identical to the sophists of ancient greece.

[JohananRaatz]

Oh excellent, Allan Bloom is one of my favorite Straussians. Allan Bloom is a smart guy.

[eddieimpact]

I enjoy these videos but it seems very much like the intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals are trying to push their thoughts and feelings on those saying "These thoughts are the correct thoughts. Your thoughts and philosophies are inferior to mine/ours."

Why can't there be more discussion and less 'pitching'?

[zorio]

It's only the Objectivists that seem to think their thoughts are the correct ones and that everyone needs to agree with them. Yet I'm somehow the closed-minded one? I really wish that Cropper et all actually knew ANYTHING about academia and stopped presenting some skewed view of his own failed attempt at undergrad. OMG I AM BRAINWASHED BY MY LIBERAL ARTS DEGREE SAVE THE CHILDREN I CAN'T THINK FOR MYSELF.

[JohananRaatz]

"It's only the Objectivists that seem to think their thoughts are the correct ones and that everyone needs to agree with them."

No it's everyone who's not a sophist. So it includes Straussians like myself as well. Trouble is sophistry is the norm.

"I'm somehow the closed-minded one?"

Well are you closed-minded to absolute propositions? If so you are closed-minded.

"I really wish that Cropper et all actually knew ANYTHING about academia"

He does --all to well. That's the trouble.

[azrienoch]

Don't you find it odd that so many people are saying "nothing," in your words? And don't you further find it odd that you keep responding to "nothing"?

[qtronman]

Hahaha, oh shit, Cropper, that "castle of stone... defense budget" was one hell of a funny analogy!!

[Schopenhauer14]

Taking down all of your videos would make a great April fools joke.

[zorio]

Yes, I probably took down my videos out of "embarrassment" and not (as I have said numerous times) because I was tired of combing through the piles of comments left by nitwits like yourself and the drones that follow you around when I have more important things on the go.

[qtronman]

It seems like the asshole has come out of Zorio.

[FoxHatesMe]

I learned that it is useless to try and hide your dumb assery (or embaresement I guess... what else can you be embrassed of but ignorance?).

[mikecampochiaro]

Put them back up man.

[youngmarklevin]

wow.

[orangeman4242]

MrCropper, I think you've done a great job with your latest videos. I've noticed that they have been very articulate and well thought out, not to say your videos aren't like that normally.

[Birdtrooper]

OMFG thank you, finally someone else acknowledges those contradictions, particularly the one about absolutism

[JohananRaatz]

"OMFG thank you, finally someone else acknowledges those contradictions, particularly the one about absolutism"

There are no absolutes. That is an absolute.

---And it's a preposterous contradiction.

[Birdtrooper]

Many [nihilists] do directly assert that there absolutely are no absolutes, and that often makes me laugh until I realize the success of that memetic misinformation. Much of the time, not only does it seem they're trying to completely discard epistemology but also make the field taboo altogether while alluding to one's own quasi-spiritual propositions as a form of truth. What is philosophy without the pursuit of absolute truth ? Another perverse colloquialism that's been raped of it very meaning

[CadicusTheDamned]

There are many definitions for nihilism.

One is that there is no objective purpose for humanity in a cosmic sense. I assume most atheists would think this.

Philosophy seems like bullshit to me. We have our internal subjective experience and the external world that we interact with. Science seems the best way to understand the latter, and the former seems to be the specialty of philosophy, but internal existence is an entirely individualistic experience so no philosophy is truly right.

[Moragauth]

Henry Veatch had a great article on all this called Deconstruction in Philosophy: Has Rorty Made it the Denouement of Contemporary Analytical Philosophy.

[Kaaru]

Where can we find that?

[Moragauth]

Not online, unfortunately. ;) I had to look to find it in a collection of articles on Rorty.

[Kaaru]

Which collection? :-)

[Moragauth]

Will have to check.. it's one in 4 volumes. The name is just "Rorty".

[Kaaru]

I found it on Amazon. Thanks very much for that. :-)

[Moragauth]

No problem. There's a lot of material in those books.