Here are a few thoughts and questions to get us going. To be honest, Willard kind of showboats a bit early on here, covering a bunch of intellectual history only like a USC philosophy professor could. It's a bit dense, but my advice is to just push through; he is laying the intellectual groundwork for a sustained argument that will bear much fruit in the chapters to come, and the writing style does not stay at this level.
A few questions to guide our discussion:
1. How plausible is his story of the fighter pilot who slammed into the ground during a low level flight because she was disoriented?
Since we have an F15 and F16 pilot in this group, I expect expert contributions to this question. If my basic knowledge of fighter pilot culture is correct, I'm assuming that Tim would say that this is only common among Viper pilots, and Jeremy would say that only Eagle Drivers would ever become this disoriented. I leave it to these two log in and enlighten us.
2. Is higher education's ambivalence towards moral truth as dire as Willard suggests? Why is it so crucial to actually become a good person, morally speaking, rather than to just be taught to be clever about how one deals with moral issues?
To this question, there are a handful of guys on this blog who have both taken classes from the "experts" referred to that reside in Emerson Hall at Harvard, as well as taken "moral reasoning" classes also mentioned, including classes from Robert Coles. I think this could provoke some interesting responses.
3. Why is his paragraph about kids singing about being Oscar Meyer weiners so hilarious (in my opinion) but also eye-opening about how "upside down" our society really is? Check out the following commercial from 1965 for historical context, and consider, like Willard, what this commericial's existence actually says about our society. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2xmZp8) How has consumerism in America warped us, and how aware or unaware are we of its effect on us?
Look forward to reading your thoughts.
aloha, Matt
PS: check out the following clip for a good F15/F16 dogfight that was in the IMAX movie, "Operation Red Flag," the excercise that Jeremy is now involved with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INb-421E-mo&feature=related
I imagine flying upside down is sort of like being upside down in the water. If you tune in to your surroundings, then it is pretty clear which way is up and which way is down. But it can be pretty easy to get "lost in the moment" and become completely disoriented. And as much as I'd like to say "that would never happen to me," obviously his point is that we are all susceptible... or maybe a better word is "infected" with our American mentality of distorted values.
ReplyDeleteGood points, Frick. I was thinking about my experiences of disorientation, and getting pounded in the surf came to my mind. There have been a handful of times where I didn't know which way was up for a few seconds, and you almost have to just wait and see which way you start floating, or which way the light is. I was trying to figure out tonight which ways I tend to "fly upside down" without realizing it. I think that for me, flying upside down means trying to create my own system of what sucess and fulfillment would look like to me at any given time. Currently, I would say that my two biggest "upside down" issues are seeking personal glory through my running, or through being a "savior" to kids I work with in the classroom. Both of these are driven by pride and wanting others to percieve me favorably. I say that they are "flying upside down" because God has given me enough life experiences where I should know deep down that seeking personal glory, in any realm, is absolutely the WORST strategy for living a joyous, rich life in Christ. Yet, I still struggle at times to "fly right side up" and seek God's glory in everything I do.
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