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The Charm of Edutainment (Summer in the Republic 68)

The Charm of Edutainment (Summer in the Republic 68)

Last updated on: August 15, 2018 at 7:20 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

The Charm of Edutainment (Summer in the Republic 68) 2018-08-15T07:20:16-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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Imagine a college administrator so obsessed with the “college experience” that he was willing to sacrifice college education for the sis-boom-ba of Tom Brown at Harvard. Tom Brown may not learn much about geography, history, or philosophy, but he plays football, meets a girl, and has the Collegiate Experience.

The Collegiate Experience may not prepare you for paradise, or even a good job, but it is easier than studying.

Education is hard, edutainment easy. That’s one reason we prefer the illusion of learning to learning. Of course, not knowing what you should know is a problem, but if culture sends in the clowns of corporate college, then you might not notice the difficulty. You might be charmed: placated into passivity by professorial palaver.

Edutainment is charming, creating a soothing, enjoyable illusion of learning. Plato’s Republic has a great deal to say about true education as opposed to edutainment and charming words are a key component of edutainment.

Socrates has shut up an advocate for tyranny, which is good, but by using tricksy arguments which is not so good. His best student (Glaucon) sees the problem with Socrates and his defense of justice. Glaucon notices that Socrates has not really defended justice persuasively, just forcefully. Socrates has talked justice without doing justice to the topic:

Well, then, Socrates, listen to what I have to say on the subject, too. I think Thrasymachus conceded the argument before he should have. He reminded me of a snake, too soon charmed by the sound of your voice.**

Socrates was not fair to Thrasymachus. He did not follow the rules of reason or engage in a genuine conversation. This was partly because Thrasymachus was unwilling to engage, partly because Socrates had been forced to come to the party to edutain originally. Nobody was committed to learning, just killing time before the novelty of a horse race with torches.

Sis-boom-ba.

Glaucon compares Thrasymachus to a snake: dangerous, but dull. He was “too soon” charmed by the sound of Socrates’ voice.

Edutainment placates and the placating does some immediate good since the unruly, the unjust, are quieted. They are not better, just hushed. The serpent remains a serpent, but not dangerous as long as the flow of edutainment continues. Note that is the sound of Socrates’ voice, not the content of his conversation, that charms.

Socrates sounds right and so his fundamental unpersuasiveness is missed by all but Glaucon. He sounds like Socrates, so he must be Socratic, but Socratic education is more than the sound, the substance matters. Socrates has charmed, rather than persuaded. A charmed student loses his will to the sound of the words. The persuaded student decides by an act of will to follow the argument where it leads.

The snake remains a snake and can still kill. The snake is only safe while the flow of words continue. Education changes our nature and makes true safety.

Let’s find real education.

———————————————-

*I begin an informal summer reading of Republic using Scott/Sterling (a new translation for me). Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11. Part 12. Part 13. Part 14. Part 15. Part 16. Part 17. Part 18. Part 19. Part 20. Part 21. Part 22. Part 23. Part 24. Part 25. Part 26. Part 27. Part 28. Part 29. Part 30. Part 31. Part 32. Part 33. Part 34. Part 35. Part 36. Part 37. Part 38. Part 39. Part 40. Part 41. Part 42. Part 43. Part 44. Part 45. Part 45.5. Part 46. Part 47. Part 48. Part 49. Part 50. Part 51. Part 52. Part 52.5. Part 53. Part 54. Part 55. Part 56. Part 57. Part 58. Part 59. Part 60. Part 61. Part 62. Part 63. Part 64. Part 65. Part 66. Part 67. Part 68.

**Plato. The Republic: A New Translation (Kindle Locations 585-586). Kindle Edition.

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