Text 12189, 91 rader
Skriven 2014-04-15 10:18:05 av Nancy Backus (1:261/1381.0)
  Kommentar till text 12079 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Re: different teaching 481
==================================
-=> Quoting MICHAEL LOO to NANCY BACKUS on 11 Apr 14  15:21:00 <=-

 ML>> attention. I think part of the popularity of the saying
 ML>> and its proliferation is because those who repeat it are
 ML>> envious of what they perceive as the cushy life of teachers.
 NB>> And some who repeat it are the students that think that they are being
 NB>> given a raw deal by an imcompetent... trying, perhaps, to make any
 NB>> sense of things...   ;)    Usually said humorously, though...  ;)
 ML> Humor often has an edge.

True.
 
 ML>> Most state schools have rigid sets of rules. There are
 ML>> perhaps ways of getting around, such as having special
 ML>> titles ("visiting lecturer" is a catch-all or pastiche)
 ML>> or giving a coveted person an honorary degree.
 NB>> Special titles, or teaching in the night school... or such...
 ML> This, that, and the other, depending on the exigencies of
 ML> the situation. What are rigid rules but a framework for
 ML> creative avoidance?

Quite.  :)
 
 ML>> RIT may have had some rationality built into its system.
 NB>> Quite likely... especially as (at least part of it) started out as an
 NB>> industrial school... the Mechanics Institute... which merged with
 NB>> Rochester Atheneum... And the T of course stands for Technology...
 NB>> which isn't a misnomer in this case, anyway you look at it..  ;)
 ML> An interesting marriage! How did that come about?

I think it had something to do with similar or the same philanthropists
behind both original schools... and a realization that even diverse
disciplines have much to offer each other.  RIT's current president has
been actively encouraging the expansion of that ideology, for creativity
and innovation.  Interesting school.
 
 ML>> He spent much of his career trying to straddle the two
 ML>> professions without the credentials for either. He'd make
 ML>> an interesting model for a novel character.
 NB>> That could be an interesting novel... :)
 ML> I suppose. After all, one of Goethe's greatest works
 ML> was Felix Krull, Confidence Man.

Built-in tensions for the character, the real and the projected.. ;)
 
 ML>> But the uninformed often believe stuff like that if
 ML>> delivered in a convincing enough tone.
 NB>> Apparently he convinced himself... ;)  
 ML> I doubt it. He was defensive in a way that bespoke
 ML> insecurity about the subject. 

Ah.  I had a good friend that used to joke about how his confident
manner was just a facade to cover his insecurities to cover his
abilities... going extra iterations of the coverups of coverups... ;)

 ML> Still is sometimes, but he's not so bad most of the time,
 ML> because people in the musical world at least didn't rub his
 ML> nose in it, so there's a possible source of pushback gone.
 
Sometimes musical professionals show a little sense...  ;)  Or at least
a little avoidance of some unnecessary conflict and competition... ;)

 ML>> Maybe, for the strut and the pride, but he's actually
 ML>> substantially oversize and would make a poor excuse for
 ML>> a real popinjay.
 NB>> Ah...  The mind's eye, however might still see the popinjay concealed
 NB>> within... ;)
 ML> Behind every fat fraud is a thin fraud waiting
 ML> to escape?
 
That could be one way to put it.  ;)

 ML>> Dubito. There are a bunch of endeavors for which I am
 ML>> pretty clearly unsuited. Parent, teacher, businessman,
 ML>> lawyer, ... .
 NB>> The last two I'm sure I'm also unsuited for...  ;)  Also totally
 NB>> unsuited for professional athletics... I'm sure we could come up with
 NB>> lots more...  (G) 
 ML> We could write volumes on what we are not suited for.
 ML> Professional athletics probably wouldn't even appear
 ML> until the appendix of obviouses.

Fortunately, there are at least some things for which we are indeed
suited... and, like tastes, there's plenty of variation for the variety
of people... ;)

ttyl         neb

... "Haggis is no more revolting than scrapple, if that comforts you."
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
 * Origin: The Holodeck BBS  telnet://holo.homeip.net:2323 (1:261/1381)