from zen
"But what had happened? The student, with no hard feelings on anybody's part, would have flunked himself out. Good! This is what should have happened. He wasn't there for a real education in the first place and had no real business there at all. A large amount of money and effort had been saved and there would be no stigma of failure and ruin to haunt him the rest of his life. No bridges had been burned.
The student's biggest problem was a slave mentality which had been built into him by years of carrot-and-whip grading, a mule mentality which said, "If you don't whip me, I won't work." He didn't get whipped. He didn't work. And the cart of civilization, which he supposedly was being trained to pull, was just going to have to creak along a little slower without him.
This is a tragedy, however, only if you presume that the cart of civilization, 'the system,' is pulled by mules. This is a common, vocational, 'location' point of view, but it's not the Church* attitude.
The Church attitude is that civilization, or 'the system' or 'society' or whatever you want to call it, is best served not by mules but by free men. The purpose of abolishing grades and degrees is not to punish mules or to get rid of them but to provide and environment in which that mule can turn into a free man." - Robert M. Pirsig
*that's the Church of Reason...everyone should read this book, it's so good
The student's biggest problem was a slave mentality which had been built into him by years of carrot-and-whip grading, a mule mentality which said, "If you don't whip me, I won't work." He didn't get whipped. He didn't work. And the cart of civilization, which he supposedly was being trained to pull, was just going to have to creak along a little slower without him.
This is a tragedy, however, only if you presume that the cart of civilization, 'the system,' is pulled by mules. This is a common, vocational, 'location' point of view, but it's not the Church* attitude.
The Church attitude is that civilization, or 'the system' or 'society' or whatever you want to call it, is best served not by mules but by free men. The purpose of abolishing grades and degrees is not to punish mules or to get rid of them but to provide and environment in which that mule can turn into a free man." - Robert M. Pirsig
*that's the Church of Reason...everyone should read this book, it's so good