tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462488453822156883.post330249585250495689..comments2024-03-28T16:48:18.088+11:00Comments on loon pond: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462488453822156883.post-89997420762153801252018-07-12T14:53:31.577+10:002018-07-12T14:53:31.577+10:00Blue Mountains Gazette: "...our Greco-Roman,...Blue Mountains Gazette: "...<i>our Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, and Enlightenment tradition, and that “appreciating it is not an exercise in cultural triumphalism, rather recognition of a complex and enduring historical reality”</i>."<br /><br />Except that it isn't any such thing (apart from leaving out a whole swathe of other significant influences). It isn't a degree for starters, at most it's 2/3rds of a degree (and that's 2/3rds of an Aussie 3 year degree, not of a 4 year yanqui degree).<br /><br />It's just a bloody book club - and a very limited one at that. For instance there's stuff all about the last 400 or so years in it, and hence there's no science in it whatsoever, and very little philosophy either. And absolutely no sociology or psychology and certainly no modern economics.<br /><br />In a recent post, Brad DeLong wrote about "The Advance of Technological and Organisational Knowledge" [ http://www.bradford-delong.com/2018/07/implications-of-the-acceleration-of-the-pace-of-growth-of-the-value-of-human-knowledge-an-in-take-from-slouching-towards-ut.html ]<br /><br />In which he wrote about how:<br />"<i>It began in 1870, when the combination of the development of the industrial research lab, the screw-propellered iron-hulled steamship, the submarine telegraph network, and America's openness to (European) immigration brought the world out of the age of <b>gunpowder empires</b> and set it on the escalator to prosperous modernity</i>."<br /><br />Do you reckon you could find even a faint whisper about any of that in Ramsay ? And talking about "gunpowder empires", do you think there'd be any mention of Marlborough, Napoleon or Wellington ? Or the bloodstained and merciless English imperialism in India (where Wellington 'perfected' his trade) or the 30 to 35 million Indians that perished by starvation in famines under the British Raj.<br /><br />It's all part of "Western civilisation" though.<br />GrueBleennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462488453822156883.post-46474281888237829812018-07-12T09:44:21.191+10:002018-07-12T09:44:21.191+10:00"I don't admit defeat", says Howard...."I don't admit defeat", says Howard. So he is starting a new campaign in the mountains (like Castro?) at Blackheath! https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5515879/former-prime-minister-john-howard-to-address-blackheath-philosophy-forum/<br />Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00808416744757194189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462488453822156883.post-85797044700011874602018-07-12T02:22:42.599+10:002018-07-12T02:22:42.599+10:00Johnny Winston: "...[he] would "very mu...Johnny Winston: "...[he] <i>would "very much" like to come to an agreement with the University of Sydney to create a Western civilisation-themed degree, and that he won't admit defeat</i>..."<br /><br />Except that:<br />1. the Ramsay thing <b>isn't a degree</b>. According to the "indicative curriculum" it comprises only 16 of the 24 study units required for a degree. In short, it is only 2/3rds of a degree.<br />2. It is not "Western civilisation-themed", it is basically just a book club (with a teensy bit of art and music thrown in). The students read a book, and then they have a tutorial to discuss it, then they go on to another book and so on. And that's about it.<br /><br />"<i>Here's the thing. The reptiles are on a crusade</i>."<br /><br />Quite right, DP. Just like Trump they're in constant 'campaign mode' because they know no other way of existing, and because shouting at their own set of clouds is all they can do.GrueBleennoreply@blogger.com