Henry Adams seemed to favor education through life experience over the conventional process of schooling. There are a few different ways Adams conveyed his life and views to us: through historical evidence , images, and anecdotes.
In class we came to the conclusion that technology and religion could cooperate with each other, however those holding power in the church were corrupt and persecuted scientist unfairly even though they were not irreligious. Adams likes using images to describe the mind. There was no ah hah moment because there are no end all-be all discoveries in knowledge, just continual growth.
You've hit the nail on the head, Ty. (Although I don't appreciate you making me do math in the process!)
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree with Adams’ views that “life” provides a fulfilling and relevant education as I can fully attest. There’s nothing more productive than getting out in the world and actually putting theory to test. I would argue, however, that Adams’ “life-taught education” would not have been nearly so enlightening nor enriching, if not for his formally fine-tuned ability to intellectualize his experiences, compliments of Harvard U. I will attempt to test this theory, but in reverse – only not at Harvard. ;)
I do find it rather compelling that “The Education of Henry Adams” is still very much relevant to modern-day generations. In this age of self-reflection, Adams’ work serves as much a catalyst for deep exploration today than it did eighty years ago.
I definitely agree with Ty and Nan that education is how you live your life. As Nan said, you “test your theories,” and make assumptions about things yourself through experiences. With these experiences, you can not only test theories, but make your own views on life. In addition, the technological and social advances mentioned in “The Education of Henry Adams” provide a way for all kinds of people to relate to his book because, no matter what era or time period you live in, there will always be advances and changes in society, and this is very helpful when reading this novel. I also enjoyed how Ty discussed man and nature corresponding, because without an understanding of nature and your surroundings, your life, or “education,” will ceratinly be tough.
ReplyDelete...or 100+ years ago (there's that math again)!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Ty. I think that it is important to note that he doesn't want you to take everything that people feed into you. He wants people to take away the fact that when you are given an idea, explore it and the more you do so come to your own conclusions. I believe that education is different for every person. In order to come to an "ah ha" moment through the books is not clear. What his "ah ha" moment may different from ours, or either he is saying that our education is continuous.
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