The country desperately needs this approach, far beyond the confines of high school. No society has ever been improved by authoritarianism, censorship, bullying and indoctrination which is what is being pushed ad nauseum in an effort to dismantle Western institutions. The end goal is the full rejection of capitalism, the family unit and individual autonomy. Our schools have been used as a weapon against our own institutions to place us in this precarious place in history. Schools can also turn this sinking ship around by getting back to the basic set of principles outlined in your article. I hope it happens quickly.
We certainly hope we can be helpful. Many of us have come of age in (small "l") liberal waters without ever really knowing its core tenants, how counterintuitive it is, or how unusual in historical terms. We hope that helping young people learn the principles of open discourse (and also the terms we all have to agree to in order for that to work), we can help sustain the best of our society.
Please send them our way! Our teacher institute will be focused on high school, but we're always interested in engaging with teachers who care about this work.
Excellent. You might consider how to include ethics into the core concepts more directly. Some in the post-modern school are using and teaching “fatal strategies” to disrupt classical liberal discourse. Teaching how to spot that and counter it will help you overcome ideologues who purposely distort language, gaslight, and apply other verbal coercion to silence and shame others. Awareness of the techniques can inoculate your students and help them stay calm, and not be bullied in sophisticated ways.
Love the idea to dive more deeply into ethics. It's a delicate balance teaching people to spot these kinds of "fatal strategies" while still remaining open and curious about the people who use them. Something we are still learning how to do ourselves!
Jun 3, 2022·edited Jun 3, 2022Liked by Free Black Thought
Ellie - I've been studying the root causes "turning up the heat" and trying to figure out what to do about them. Social Constructionist, post-modern ideologues are well into their "march through the institutions" and they love to gaslight. Specifically, I mean:
Psychological manipulation used to gain power in which a person, or entity, makes someone question their own reality. They are common among abusers, narcissists, cult leaders, and dictators.
There are many tactics:
1. lie
2. deny they said something
3. use your identify against you
4. wear you down
5. do things that don't match their words,
6. utilize positive reinforcement to confuse you
7. use their knowledgeable disposition to make you rely on them
8. accuse you of the very things they are doing
9. align others against you
10 cultivate distrust
11. make you question your own sanity
12 and get you to think everyone else is a liar
The best resources I have found to understand and combat this illiberal ideology are as follows, in priority order.
1. The Gender Paradox, Discrimination and Disparities in the postmodern era By Zach Elliot. (The subtitle has to have been borrowed from Thomas Sowell's wonderful book Discrimination and Disparities). This is a fantastic resource, very well sourced, and very accessible. The chapters on Solving the Gender Paradox and The Gaslighting Ideology are good place to start, they provide examples of what to look for. The first three chapters are the most concise exposition of social constructionist and postmodern philosophy I've found. The chapter, "Critiquing Social Constructionism" is also an example of how to lucidly argue against this but also in general.
2. Counter Wokecraft, a field manual for combatting the woke in the university and beyond. By Charles Pincourt and James Lindsay. Concise, very practical and shorter. Full of how to recognize the ideology, and assess its level of possession of a person, and how to appropriately respond. I.e. be curious, recognize the individual.
3. Awake, not Woke by Noell Mering. This is from a Christian perspective and is a great commentary on the influence and impact of the Social Constructionist, Blank Slatist, Postmodern, Neo-Marxist, Neo-racist, neo-sexist, "Critical Social Justice" movement .
4. And finally, the best sourced but very difficult to read "Cynical (Critical) Theories, How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity-- and why this harms everybody" by James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose. This book is a very detailed accounting of the history of how the Critical Social Justice movement came into being through our elite institutions. It expresses not so much the author's opinions but rather uses the ideologues own directly sourced papers, interviews, etc. to reveal their beliefs and from whence they sprung, academically. Noelle makes the same points more concisely, but James and Helen document it in a very detailed academic manner.
Thank you so much for all this! I've read some of the resources you cited (I agree that Cynical Theories is well done), and will look into the others. It's a cool project to categorize all these tactics. Super interesting.
The challenge still remains that most people who espouse ideas in a closed or ideologically driven way are likely not abusers, cult leaders or narcissists, etc. They are normal people who care deeply about a range of issues and simply think they are right. As useful as it is to understand the state of our public discourse in socio-historical context (and it absolutely is important to do that), we also have to solve the interpersonal challenge: how to help small groups of well-meaning people to be more intellectually curious and open to each other, and to further knowledge creation. That is the challenge we are trying to solve in the education space.
Jun 3, 2022·edited Jun 3, 2022Liked by Free Black Thought
Ah, okay. Gotcha. These two resources may help then, they helped me as a young man.
1. A textbook, "Asking the Right Questions, A Guide To Critical Thinking" (the traditional kind not the Critical Theory, deconstructive postmodern kind) by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keely. It is available in eBook for educators from Pearson View along with a teaching guide. This has all of the fundamentals. I took her course based on this book in college back in the early 90's. It is in its 12th edition. Here's a link to a PDF of an earlier edition for you to review: http://www.nlpinfocentre.com/downloads/jan2015/Browne,Keeley%20-%20Asking%20the%20Right%20Questions,%20A%20Guide%20to%20Critical%20Thinking,%208th%20Ed.pdf
2. Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. From the four cofounders of vital smarts. This is a very well researched, psycho-social framework for dialog. One above teaches how to think critically. This one teaches how to interact with others effectively. Find a summary here: https://cruciallearning.com/crucial-conversations-for-dialogue/.
I do firmly think this will be extraordinarily helpful in achieving your educational goal. It changed my life.
Key ideas:
A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where:
* The stakes are high
* Emotions run strong
* Opinions differ
To be effective all must feel safe
* People feel safe when they have Mutual Purpose and Mutual Respect.
* Monitor both its content and the emotional condition of the people involved - do they feel safe?
Without Safety People go blind And tend towards Silence or Violence
Exercise freedom in the moment of choice - basically we tell ourselves a story about what we think someone else meant when we are in a stressful dialog. That story may not be right. Be curious and find out by creating a shared pool of meaning.
You are welcome. Check out Bari Wiess' Common Sense on substack, or TheUnherd website out of the UK, or sometimes the WSJ - often I learn as much from the comments as the articles.
Too many Americans are suffering because of illiberal, neo-marxist propaganda narratives. I'm just trying to do anything I can to help make things a little better. As is The Journal For Free Black Thought, or you and your partners at the Mill Center.
I do think the latter two sources I shared are perfect for high schoolers.
What a wonderful program! Highly recommend Synthesis as well: https://synthesis.is/
Very cool link. We'll check it out! - Mill Center Team
Wow, very cool. Thanks!
Very nice. Thank You all. Wishing You greatest success in all Your endeavors. We need it.
Thank you so much! We are excited about this project and appreciate all the support we can get!
The country desperately needs this approach, far beyond the confines of high school. No society has ever been improved by authoritarianism, censorship, bullying and indoctrination which is what is being pushed ad nauseum in an effort to dismantle Western institutions. The end goal is the full rejection of capitalism, the family unit and individual autonomy. Our schools have been used as a weapon against our own institutions to place us in this precarious place in history. Schools can also turn this sinking ship around by getting back to the basic set of principles outlined in your article. I hope it happens quickly.
We certainly hope we can be helpful. Many of us have come of age in (small "l") liberal waters without ever really knowing its core tenants, how counterintuitive it is, or how unusual in historical terms. We hope that helping young people learn the principles of open discourse (and also the terms we all have to agree to in order for that to work), we can help sustain the best of our society.
I have an elementary school teacher who is interested…….
Please send them our way! Our teacher institute will be focused on high school, but we're always interested in engaging with teachers who care about this work.
Excellent. You might consider how to include ethics into the core concepts more directly. Some in the post-modern school are using and teaching “fatal strategies” to disrupt classical liberal discourse. Teaching how to spot that and counter it will help you overcome ideologues who purposely distort language, gaslight, and apply other verbal coercion to silence and shame others. Awareness of the techniques can inoculate your students and help them stay calm, and not be bullied in sophisticated ways.
Love the idea to dive more deeply into ethics. It's a delicate balance teaching people to spot these kinds of "fatal strategies" while still remaining open and curious about the people who use them. Something we are still learning how to do ourselves!
Ellie - I've been studying the root causes "turning up the heat" and trying to figure out what to do about them. Social Constructionist, post-modern ideologues are well into their "march through the institutions" and they love to gaslight. Specifically, I mean:
Psychological manipulation used to gain power in which a person, or entity, makes someone question their own reality. They are common among abusers, narcissists, cult leaders, and dictators.
There are many tactics:
1. lie
2. deny they said something
3. use your identify against you
4. wear you down
5. do things that don't match their words,
6. utilize positive reinforcement to confuse you
7. use their knowledgeable disposition to make you rely on them
8. accuse you of the very things they are doing
9. align others against you
10 cultivate distrust
11. make you question your own sanity
12 and get you to think everyone else is a liar
The best resources I have found to understand and combat this illiberal ideology are as follows, in priority order.
1. The Gender Paradox, Discrimination and Disparities in the postmodern era By Zach Elliot. (The subtitle has to have been borrowed from Thomas Sowell's wonderful book Discrimination and Disparities). This is a fantastic resource, very well sourced, and very accessible. The chapters on Solving the Gender Paradox and The Gaslighting Ideology are good place to start, they provide examples of what to look for. The first three chapters are the most concise exposition of social constructionist and postmodern philosophy I've found. The chapter, "Critiquing Social Constructionism" is also an example of how to lucidly argue against this but also in general.
2. Counter Wokecraft, a field manual for combatting the woke in the university and beyond. By Charles Pincourt and James Lindsay. Concise, very practical and shorter. Full of how to recognize the ideology, and assess its level of possession of a person, and how to appropriately respond. I.e. be curious, recognize the individual.
3. Awake, not Woke by Noell Mering. This is from a Christian perspective and is a great commentary on the influence and impact of the Social Constructionist, Blank Slatist, Postmodern, Neo-Marxist, Neo-racist, neo-sexist, "Critical Social Justice" movement .
4. And finally, the best sourced but very difficult to read "Cynical (Critical) Theories, How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity-- and why this harms everybody" by James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose. This book is a very detailed accounting of the history of how the Critical Social Justice movement came into being through our elite institutions. It expresses not so much the author's opinions but rather uses the ideologues own directly sourced papers, interviews, etc. to reveal their beliefs and from whence they sprung, academically. Noelle makes the same points more concisely, but James and Helen document it in a very detailed academic manner.
Good luck. We'll need it.
Thank you so much for all this! I've read some of the resources you cited (I agree that Cynical Theories is well done), and will look into the others. It's a cool project to categorize all these tactics. Super interesting.
The challenge still remains that most people who espouse ideas in a closed or ideologically driven way are likely not abusers, cult leaders or narcissists, etc. They are normal people who care deeply about a range of issues and simply think they are right. As useful as it is to understand the state of our public discourse in socio-historical context (and it absolutely is important to do that), we also have to solve the interpersonal challenge: how to help small groups of well-meaning people to be more intellectually curious and open to each other, and to further knowledge creation. That is the challenge we are trying to solve in the education space.
Ah, okay. Gotcha. These two resources may help then, they helped me as a young man.
1. A textbook, "Asking the Right Questions, A Guide To Critical Thinking" (the traditional kind not the Critical Theory, deconstructive postmodern kind) by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keely. It is available in eBook for educators from Pearson View along with a teaching guide. This has all of the fundamentals. I took her course based on this book in college back in the early 90's. It is in its 12th edition. Here's a link to a PDF of an earlier edition for you to review: http://www.nlpinfocentre.com/downloads/jan2015/Browne,Keeley%20-%20Asking%20the%20Right%20Questions,%20A%20Guide%20to%20Critical%20Thinking,%208th%20Ed.pdf
2. Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. From the four cofounders of vital smarts. This is a very well researched, psycho-social framework for dialog. One above teaches how to think critically. This one teaches how to interact with others effectively. Find a summary here: https://cruciallearning.com/crucial-conversations-for-dialogue/.
I do firmly think this will be extraordinarily helpful in achieving your educational goal. It changed my life.
Key ideas:
A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where:
* The stakes are high
* Emotions run strong
* Opinions differ
To be effective all must feel safe
* People feel safe when they have Mutual Purpose and Mutual Respect.
* Monitor both its content and the emotional condition of the people involved - do they feel safe?
Without Safety People go blind And tend towards Silence or Violence
Exercise freedom in the moment of choice - basically we tell ourselves a story about what we think someone else meant when we are in a stressful dialog. That story may not be right. Be curious and find out by creating a shared pool of meaning.
You get the idea...
PatriotD, you are a rockstar. I can't remember the last time someone took such care to offer so much info in a comments section!
You are welcome. Check out Bari Wiess' Common Sense on substack, or TheUnherd website out of the UK, or sometimes the WSJ - often I learn as much from the comments as the articles.
Too many Americans are suffering because of illiberal, neo-marxist propaganda narratives. I'm just trying to do anything I can to help make things a little better. As is The Journal For Free Black Thought, or you and your partners at the Mill Center.
I do think the latter two sources I shared are perfect for high schoolers.