Comments on: Classics geekery pays off. Sort of. http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/07/05/classics-geekery-pays-off-sort-of/ Sliding down the banisters of the ivory tower. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:48:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Noah M. http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/07/05/classics-geekery-pays-off-sort-of/#comment-701 Noah M. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:59:05 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=139#comment-701 How can you leave out that classic of Hansen & Quinn: "It is not nice to steal the tapirs." How can you leave out that classic of Hansen & Quinn:

“It is not nice to steal the tapirs.”

]]> By: Matthew Gerken http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/07/05/classics-geekery-pays-off-sort-of/#comment-691 Matthew Gerken Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:56:05 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=139#comment-691 I feel that the "propaganda in textbooks" problem is probably at an ebb in the area of learning the mechanics of a language. In the same way that a math textbook that spends 100 pages showing examples of mathematicians who are female minorities in wheelchairs doesn't affect the quality of the math instruction, these prose compositions, while propagandistic, at least have the benefit of not corrupting the purpose of the book. What really scares me are textbooks whose moral and philosophical assumptions affect what taught. See the first part of Lewis' Abolition of Man for a takedown of English writing textbooks whose disturbing undertones control what is considered "good writing" by the authors, and thus their students. I feel that the “propaganda in textbooks” problem is probably at an ebb in the area of learning the mechanics of a language. In the same way that a math textbook that spends 100 pages showing examples of mathematicians who are female minorities in wheelchairs doesn’t affect the quality of the math instruction, these prose compositions, while propagandistic, at least have the benefit of not corrupting the purpose of the book.

What really scares me are textbooks whose moral and philosophical assumptions affect what taught. See the first part of Lewis’ Abolition of Man for a takedown of English writing textbooks whose disturbing undertones control what is considered “good writing” by the authors, and thus their students.

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