In Defense Of Skipping The Introduction

“Nine times out of ten, knowing “where the author is coming from” is simply leverage for dismissing all the stickiest, most confrontational claims the author makes. “Where the author is coming from” means that none of his claims about truth is objective or transcendent but materially connected with his experience. All of his assertions and claims invariably arise from demographics. The introduction offers information on the author’s race, income, upbringing, religion, thus readers can tie whatever they don’t like in the book to something external to it. Of course Jane Austen says that—she’s white. Of course Eugene Vodolazkin says that—he’s Orthodox. Of course Cormac McCarthy says that—he’s actually quite rich. Well, of course you say ‘Of course’—you’re a Marxist. I guess two can play that game.”

-from my latest for CiRCE

2020 (As It Looks From 2022)

“Revolutions are carried out in order to change the ownership of property and the names of streets. The revolutionary who seeks to change ‘man’s condition’ ends up being shot for being a counter-revolutionary.”

― Nicolás Gómez Dávila

On Faculty Development

“It is entirely possible for a history teacher to enjoy his students, grade them highly on tests he thinks sufficiently challenging, vary his content and delivery a bit from one year to the next, and still be no good at his job. Or for a literature teacher to cover all the books in the curriculum, enjoy lively conversation with the students several times a week, grade them highly on tests he thinks sufficiently challenging, and yet be a failure as a classical educator. It’s pleasant to think that a few in-service lectures every year about leisure and contemplation will transform mediocre teachers, but that is simply not how human beings change. What mediocre teachers need is for someone who knows what they’re doing to observe them for several days, take notes, and then tell them, “You’re doing this all wrong,” explain why, and then they need to spend several days watching someone do it properly.”

-from How To Fix Your Faculty Development Program from the upcoming Gibbs Classical Online Summer Conference (July 8-9)

Person First Language

In the last several years, the zeitgeist has begun insisting on “person first language,” and so it is now fashionable to say “enslaved person” instead of “slave,” “person with a mental health condition” instead of “mad man,” “person with autism” instead of “autistic,” and so forth.

I have no interest in commenting here what I think of this fashion. I would simply like to suggest that Christians begin insisting on the term “fetal persons” or “unborn persons” whenever possible.

Enough Is Enough: I Am Banning Water Bottles From The Classroom

“As with the fidget spinner fad, our “need” for water bottles has a tissue-like connection to “science.” I put that word in quotes, because the science behind our need to “stay hydrated” is even thinner and more tawdry than “the science” behind wearing two masks. Remember that one? Most of the people claiming it’s important to “stay hydrated” are simply repeating something they heard a friend say over brunch.

I also put quotes around “stay hydrated” because “staying hydrated” is no longer about drinking a reasonable amount of water every day. “Staying hydrated” is now a euphemism for bringing a titanium punch bowl to class and loudly microdosing fluid every ten minutes. How much water is a student sipping from his punch bowl over the course of an hour? Four ounces? Six? Eight? At present, he is drinking this water in the most distracting, obnoxious manner possible. If he wants to “stay hydrated,” let him drink eight ounces of water between classes. Let him drink a pint of water at lunch.

Be reasonable. If you’re going to argue water bottles are necessary in the classroom, how did we do without them for centuries? How did we do without them fifteen years ago? What sort of problems have we eliminated since bringing water bottles in the classroom? Every teacher can certainly tell you about the problems we’ve created since bringing them in.”

-from my latest for CiRCE