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Re: [Phys-l] Placebo Education



On 07/23/2011 04:54 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:

Someone was actually suggesting
that you can take this concept further,and actually produce placebo
education. The point is that education doesn't actually work by
teaching you things. It actually works by giving you the impression
that you've had a very good education, which gives you an insane
sense of unwarranted self confidence ....

Is that supposed to be a suggestion?

It's more of a postdiction. We're already there.


I quote from
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-oecds-release-program-international-student-assessment-

The U.S. is not among the top performing OECD nations in any
subject tested by PISA -- though U.S. students express more
self-confidence in their academic skills than students in virtually
all OECD nations. This stunning finding may be explained because
students here are being commended for work that would not be
acceptable in high-performing education systems.


As for the further suggestion that this

... then makes you very, very successful in later life.

that part hasn't worked out so well.

It is always thus with placebos.

Note the contrast: The faith healer and/or the placebo can make
you feel good -- in the short run -- about not taking your high
blood pressure medicine and your diabetes medicine. You'll feel
just fine ... until your feet rot off and you suffer a stroke
that makes you a huge burden on other people.

The primary, fundamental, and overarching purpose of education is
to get people to learn how to think properly. One small component
of this is learning how to recognize fallacious thinking. If you
are taken in by faith healers, placebos, and Madison Avenue hype,
you have failed this lesson.