Elections as Exams

From August 15th, 2024

A decent educator is aware of the attention spans of the students. Sometimes there are periods of examination , and preparation for examination, where the concentration powers of the students are naturally at their peaks. The ebbs and flows of this concentration power of the student, the non-renewable resource of the self-discipline of the student to concentrate, pay attention, make connections, is difficult to maximize in part because there are so many variables (the institutional culture, the parents, the friends, the background knowledge and training) that go into whether or to what extent the student can achieve his or her potential for excellence. A teacher doesn't want to overdo it, and wear the students' nerves out. But on the other extreme, the professor shouldn't be unnerved by completely incurious and distracted students such that it appears that such things are mere pests of his existence, like mosquitos at lunch.

I look at elections in our Republic as exams for the electorate. The many variables I mentioned above, the institutional culture, the parents, the friends, the background knowledge and training, and many other things, go into whether the student, the electorate, will go into this exam with nerves frayed and instead of a period of concentration preparing for the exam, the opposite effect, even further disengagement, so that they fail the exam, because they weren't prepared.

It is a very rare student, indeed, who can see the impact of institutional culture on their study habits, on their powers of concentration, and to make adjustments on their own. I think I've only seen this a few times. Usually, the students are so enmeshed into the institutional culture, they just take it for granted that this is college, this is fine (as academic standards burn in bright destruction all around them).

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Originally published to Facebook 15 August 2024 at 10:47 am (Thursday)