Limitations on perceptions
During class one day at Saint Mary's College, we were talking about whether comparative government and politics had any direct relevance to students or whether it was more purely an academic pursuit. I think we generally agreed that in a global society and economy, studying about political systems other than our own had a very practical value.I was reminded of that discussion when I read Michael Schermer's column "Skeptic" in the August issue of Scientific American (p. 34). In Folk Science, Why our intuitions about how the world works are often wrong, he describes many examples of the ways in which the world as we're able to perceive it with modern science is counterintuitive.
"The reason folk science so often gets it wrong is that we evolved in an environment radically different from the one in which we now live. Our senses are geared for perceiving objects of middling size -- between, say ants and mountains -- not bacteria, molecules, and atoms on one end of the scale and stars and galaxies on the other end. We live a scant three score and 10 years, far too short a time to witness evolution, continental drift or long-term environmental change."
And we should add, that in spite of the technological shrinking of the world, we really only internalize the culture and society in which we live. If we aren't able to or don't broaden our frames of reference through study and travel, we are seriously handicapped when it comes to understanding our global society. If civics and patriotism were vital for citizenship yesterday, wider knowledge and experience and comparative analytical skills are equally important today. Government and politics aren't complete cultures, but they are a start.
In my opinion, that's why studying comparative government and politics is one of the more important things a student can do and one of the more important things a teacher can help with.
posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:44 PM
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