Re: Mandarinism, was Re: Rigor mortis?

["Justin Schwartz" <jkschw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> "Devine, James" wrote:
> >
> >
> > this fits with my sense that economists embrace math so fervently partly
> > because it provides a basis for Mandarinism. (Mandarinism refers to the
> > pre-20th century practice of requiring would-be Chinese state
> bureaucrats to
> > take examinations in stuff like calligraphy that had nothing at all to
> do
> > with their ability to rule.)

Or teaching Latin and Greek to the British ruling class. But I think it is
rather charming that it was expected that Chinese mandarins were expected to
be proficient in calligraphy and poetry and have a solid grounding in
classical literature, or that little Brit lordings were supposed to know
their Homer and their Ovid. TE Lawrence (he of Arabia), for example, turned
out a highly creditable translation of the Odyessy. Made them much more
interesting people than the narrow and ignorant technocrats who rule us, no?

> In an article he wrote many years ago Andre Gorz reports visiting one of
> the more exclusive technological academies in France. He asked someone,
> what do you teach here that couldn't be learned on the job in the
> factory. The reply, calculus. Next question, will they need calculus to
> do the work? No.

Still, can't hurt to learn it. When I teaching, we  (Solidarity) invited a
woman from a left spinter of Solidarnisc, a metal worker, on a tour; she
spoke to my class, and was alarmed at how ignorant these juniors and seniors
were. I explaned to her what their educational background was, and she was
shocked. She had never been to university, just technical high school, had
been taught math through calculus, and had to know two foreign
languages--one modern (English [hers], Russian, or German, andone
classical--hers wasLatin). This was a factory worker, you understand, a
machine lathe operator.

> So this practice can not only be used to filter out a ruling elite
> (China) or an elite band of lackeys (economics) but to create
> pseudo-elites within the working class. And since the economists can be
> divided into (a) those at the elite universities, thinktanks, corp
> staffs, etc) and (b) those at all the non-elite schools, we find that
> economist training both recruits elite lackeys and divides the working
> class.

Yes. Better they should learn calligraphy and Greek. If math, something
really useless, like number theory or topology.

jks


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