Search All of the Math Forum:
Views expressed in these public forums are not endorsed by
Drexel University or The Math Forum.
|
|
|
|
Slamming Gates?
Posted:
Aug 31, 2000 1:25 PM
|
|
I guess I can't resist.
I find it fascinating to see who interprets the change in this list from
unmoderated street brawl to moderated professional forum as a "slamming of
the gates," "death of AMTE," and the like. Unless I miss my guess, all these
fascinating metaphors originate from a particular band on the spectrum of
views about mathematics education represented on this list. Coincidence?
While some readers view me as just another street brawler, I might point out
that I have publicly applauded the decision of AMTE to go to a moderated
format and have made no bones about my reasoning. Despite my support for
free speech, my recent post about Kuwaiti bazaars and English gentlemen's
clubs explains my belief that there is a clear need for there to be places
where like-minded persons can retreat to discourse as they see fit without
obstruction and the shrieking voices of dissent. I doubt that any of those
who choose the new AMTE "club" as a place for peaceful contemplation and
discussion plan to retreat entirely from the public marketplace of ideas
with all its hubbub, but it is certainly anyone's right to do so should they
choose, and without having to hear all the usual nonsense from all the usual
quarters. Do those who claim that the change in format spells some sort of
disaster think that if they yell a little louder and longer that they'll
change the mind of anyone who's listened to them for years? Or do they
simply object to the democratic right of people to turn away and change the
subject?
Let me repeat a question that has gone unanswered by those to whom it was
clearly directed:
If you're SO dedicated to free speech on AMTE, why can't I, Victor, Lou, or
any member of the AMTE list make additions to the MC web site or join, say,
the Klein List? Are you really interested in free exchange of ideas or
merely the promulgation of your own? I'd thank you in advance, but that
would imply that I expected a civil, honest answer.
------
Michael Paul Goldenberg Washtenaw Technical Middle College
5900 Bridge Rd #715 LA 230L
Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Ann Arbor, MI 48106
home 734 482-0497 work 734 973-3410
cell 734 604-8559
"I wish I knew as much about anything now as I knew about everything when I
was twenty." William Ayers
|
|
|
|
