Indoctrination

If you say: "This is the answer so don't even question it." then its indoctrination.If you say: "This is the answer, but if you don't believe me then you can find out for yourself here." then its education.

When you are educating someone, they are leaning about stuff, not just stuff. For the purpose of this thread (as an either/or), I would call it indoctrination.In receiving just an answer, they aren't leaning about stuff, they are just learning the answer to a question. I don't consider education to be 'giving leeway for alternatives'. If it is the Truth^TM, then there is no alternative. Also, I don't consider indoctrination to be 'pushing one's own beliefs on the listener'. If my beliefs about stuff is the Truth^TM, I can push them on the listener without indoctrinating them.The key is in providing them information about how to get the answer instead of just saying that the answer is so. I dunno. It depends on how you look at it.I've approached the thread in an either/or sense (black and white, indoctrination or education), however in reality, as usual, everything is most likely some shade of grey.In my formal education there was some indoctrination and in my formal indoctrination there was some education.How often? Its hard to say.

The parts that you can investigate and learn on your own. I would consider that indoctrination. Its to no avail, however, because is the Truth^TM.Indoctrinated falsehoods are the ones that need to be worried about. Sure. And we indoctrinate children all the time fo their own good. "Don't touch that!" We might not explain why they shouldn't and demand that they just listen. That is indoctrination.But when they're young, its too hard to provide them with the why's so we have to rely on indoctrination.

That's my take on it... True, but after a while of them always being right and as the subject matter gets more complicated, you just start taking their word for it instead of doing your own search. (like with cavediver in the cosmology forum) I think I might have used "push" a little too loosely. But, after the Prof. if right so many times and you stop searching for yourself, they'll start to stop providing you with all the means to do the searching (as you start to take their word for it). Its like you gradually bleed into indoctrination. But as long as you're learning the Truth^TM, then it doesn't really hurt. Its hard to say. I mean, if I'm indoctrinated to believe something but then educate myself about it and it turns out to be the Truth^TM, then what was I? Indoctrinated or educated?I feel that I was educated into Christianity but indoctrinated into Catholicism.I stick with Catholicism more for convienience reasons. Not because I believe every little indoctrination (which I found is what a lot of us [Catholics] are doing).

When is the last time, after reading a piece of scientific literature, did you repeat the experiment to reproduce the results?Or do you just take their word for it?What about for experiments that you don't have the equipment to reproduce?Are you indoctrinating yourself with their results? Sure. Why not? Hrm... controlled?Thinking about all the hoosiers raising kids 'round here in Southern Illinois, with all the racism and bullshit that I see being indoctrinated, it really doesn't seem like the parents are controlling the imprintation. People just believe that stuff and their kids learn it from them. The parents are not making some active controlled indoctrination. Beliefs just get passed from generation to generation on their own. I'd still consider this some type of indoctrination (in a non-education sense), but it doesn't seem to be controlled or deliberate.

I'm gonna go back on what I said, and agree that indoctrination is deliberate.It makes more sense that way.But then, what's the word that describes what I was referring too? The "incedental learning by observation".Growing up in Catholic schools, there was definately some genuine indoctrination. But a lot of it is like how the racism gets passed on in my example.My family and parish did not seem to really be actively and deliberately indoctrinating me, they thought that what they believed was true and I learned some of the beliefs "incidentally by observation". Well, its like you said, as long as you're indoctrinating the Truth^TM, then it doesn't really hurt. Your welcome, I'm glad I could help. It makes sense as I've been both indoctrinated and educated. And they were both formal and legitimate.Edited by Catholic Scientist, : No reason given.