12/15/12 Watchower Study Edition - Higher Eduction = Thinking in a "complicated" manner

by yourmomma 71 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  King Solomon

  "WTF is the abstract language of higher education??? Who says things like that?"

  Someone who's never been to college, but thinks that's what they teach you in higher education....

  Most JWs pride themselves on being down-to-earth people who feel they have a lot of common sense, even blessed with MORE than anyone who went to college: after all, they've got "The Truth"! They think college types are egg-headed anoraks, lacking in enough common sense not to drown in a rainstorm by looking up in fascination at the clouds. They think college types are more concerned with abstractions and theories over practical knowledge and hard work.... There's definitely an anti-intellectual streak to be seen in JWs.

  Heck, we even see it on JWN: the non-college-types complain if when someone dares post a word or concept they don't know: instead of learning, they get offended that someone would dare expose them to something they don't know....
• 

  Quendi

  There is also the very real possibility that this entire experience is untrue, that there is no college graduate who would think the way this Watchtower article portrays. The quote is unattributed, the anonymous Witness making a statement that repudiates everything that was studied and worked for.

  I used to believe the reason for this modus operandi was to avoid giving undue praise, honor and attention to individual Witnesses. That is not my thinking now. I believe that many of these so-called experiences are complete fiction, created for the sole purpose of keeping the rank-and file in line.

  Quendi
• 

  simon17

  Quendi,

  I think, for the most part, the quotes are real by rationalization. Someone probably did physically write or say it, but did so specifically and purposefully to fit the point being made in an article being written.
• 

  King Solomon

  Oh yeah, Quendi: they've admitted that years ago. "Letters from the readers" is actually "letters that MIGHT have been from readers": it's fake-o.
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  traveb

  It's weird that they haven't updated JW.org yet to show the new issue of the study WT. I posted this link on the other thread I started about the QFR, but here it is again

  download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/w_E_20121215.pdf
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  kurtbethel

  It's clearly a made up story. The tell is the line about the " abstract language of higher education". There is nothing inherent in higher education that is abstract, nor is that a term used in higher education. An "abstract" is a summary of an article, book, course or some other teaching instrument. Someone who lacks any higher education might think it is abstract, because they do not have any concrete experience obtaining that education. Consider this article another Watchtower fail.

  
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  likeabird

  “I spent 18 years speaking and writing in the abstract language of higher education.
  I developed a habit of speaking and thinking in a way that was more complicated
  than necessary. I realized I needed to make big changes in my way of thinking
  and speaking.”

  Or in other words :

  "I used to have a really interesting job where I used my brain and I gave it all up to p***eer."
• 

  00DAD

  Someone that is highly educated does think abstractly, in fact so does normal, thoughtful person beyond about 5 or 6 years of age.

  But who would ever say it that way? It's not the phrase "abstract language" that is odd, it's that it is linked it with "higher education" in a negative way.

  I agree, with Quendi, this is just made up propaganda from the uneducated mind of some WT drone that doesn't want you or anyone else to think.

  ab·stract

      [ adj. ab- strakt ] adjective 1. thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances: an abstract idea. 2. expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance, as justice, poverty, and speed. 3. theoretical; not applied or practical: abstract science. 4. difficult to understand; abstruse: abstract speculations. = = = = = = = = = BTW, Abstract is an SAT word you need to know.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Yes, it is a made-up story. It may be what is called a composite of what they feel college-educated pioneers are saying.

  So, really- the simplified language helps recruit the illiterate ones who can barely understand what is being said and don't understand jwfacts.com or who won't pick up a book like CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE.

  Years of reading the simplified Watchtower is like getting a 4th Grade education.
• 

  00DAD

  What is ABSTRACT THOUGHT and why doesn't the WT want you to know what it is and do it?

  Read the following definition and the answer should be obvious, but then again maybe not:

  ABSTRACT THOUGHT

  Noun1.abstract thought - thinking that is coherent and logical

  • logical thinking, reasoning
  • cerebration, intellection, mentation, thinking, thought process, thought - the process of using your mind to consider something carefully; "thinking always made him frown"; "she paused for thought"
  • analytic thinking, analysis - the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations
  • line of reasoning, logical argument, argumentation, argument, line - a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning; "I can't follow your line of reasoning"
  • conjecture - reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence
  • deductive reasoning, synthesis, deduction - reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect)
  • illation, inference - the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation
  • prediction, anticipation, prevision - the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)
  • ratiocination - logical and methodical reasoning
  • reasoning backward, regress - the reasoning involved when you assume the conclusion is true and reason backward to the evidence
  • synthetic thinking, synthesis - the combination of ideas into a complex whole

  Got it? If not, you're a good little JW utterly incapable of Abstract Thought. Better hope they're right about that 1914 Overlapping Generation stuff!