I don't think this article is really about guns in schools (there are myriad examples of the dangers of prohibition in history; the debates for both sides, and the same mistakes will be repeated ad infinitum).
Nor do I think the controversy surrounding it is merely perceived or even about the (in?)appropriate use of/. posts.
I think the real issue is that decisions such as these that are deciding factors in one's life path are always very personal and very powerful. Had this piece been about something equally as 'religous' but less personal (say the benefits/drawbacks of open source development) the outcry would have been just as loud, but not against the publication of the piece, but rather for or against the viewpoint(s) it took.
I can only speculate that this sort of reaction occurs because people are deathly afraid of being told that they might have made such an important decision 'incorrectly'. I don't think that's even possible, but how can one not wonder?
I offer the following anecdote both as an argument for the proposition that there is choice in this issue, and as evidence of the power of deeply personal issues such as this.
In my not so humble opinion, I am an intelligent individual, and would (had I earned the oppurunity) have been able to hold my own at any of the top flight universities. At some point in my life (probably about seventh grade) I made a semi-conscious decision that social comfort was of importance to me, and that I was willing to sacrifice all out pursuit of my intellectual/academic desires in exchange for it.
Seeing both sides of this 'decision' I had many friends over the coming years that were in many ways similar to the the kids in this feature the way they are described (i.e. they sacrificed social comfort to obtain other objectives). One of them was particularly bright and we found a lot of common ground between us even though we never 'hung out' socially. He went on to study at MIT, and we continued to correspond via email.
From our conversations I knew that he harbored some regret at not being part of the 'in crowd'. At one point I posed to him the notion that my regrets at not achieving more academically as a result of making sacrifices to maintain social comfort were the parallel contrapositive to his achieving more at the cost of social comfort. Although I feel there is much truth in this notion, it offended him so badly that we have not spoken since.
Slashdot Mirror
For most of our formative years, being a student is mandatory (and relatively enforceable). Being studious is at the very least unenforceable.
I don't think this article is really about guns in schools (there are myriad examples of the dangers of prohibition in history; the debates for both sides, and the same mistakes will be repeated ad infinitum).
/. posts.
Nor do I think the controversy surrounding it is merely perceived or even about the (in?)appropriate use of
I think the real issue is that decisions such as these that are deciding factors in one's life path are always very personal and very powerful. Had this piece been about something equally as 'religous' but less personal (say the benefits/drawbacks of open source development) the outcry would have been just as loud, but not against the publication of the piece, but rather for or against the viewpoint(s) it took.
I can only speculate that this sort of reaction occurs because people are deathly afraid of being told that they might have made such an important decision 'incorrectly'. I don't think that's even possible, but how can one not wonder?
I offer the following anecdote both as an argument for the proposition that there is choice in this issue, and as evidence of the power of deeply personal issues such as this.
In my not so humble opinion, I am an intelligent individual, and would (had I earned the oppurunity) have been able to hold my own at any of the top flight universities. At some point in my life (probably about seventh grade) I made a semi-conscious decision that social comfort was of importance to me, and that I was willing to sacrifice all out pursuit of my intellectual/academic desires in exchange for it.
Seeing both sides of this 'decision' I had many friends over the coming years that were in many ways similar to the the kids in this feature the way they are described (i.e. they sacrificed social comfort to obtain other objectives). One of them was particularly bright and we found a lot of common ground between us even though we never 'hung out' socially. He went on to study at MIT, and we continued to correspond via email.
From our conversations I knew that he harbored some regret at not being part of the 'in crowd'. At one point I posed to him the notion that my regrets at not achieving more academically as a result of making sacrifices to maintain social comfort were the parallel contrapositive to his achieving more at the cost of social comfort. Although I feel there is much truth in this notion, it offended him so badly that we have not spoken since.