Hmmmn..Intresting Convo with my DAD last NIGHT

dirtyknections

So me and my father who is an elder get into yet another rather tense discussions about the bible
and my new found "beliefs". One of the things we discussed was my belief that the way we conduct studies...

i.e. watchtower, revelation climax, bible teach...is not really studying but forcefeeding and leading to an already pre-prescribed answer...AKA the student is not really learning with discernment and wisdom, but rather just repeating the printed "answers" in the paragraphs.

Me being a teacher by trade, I understand intensely what it means to "teach". Experience shows that just because a student can regurgitate what is read, DOES NOT IN ANYWAY mean that student understands what they just read. The only way to ignite comprehension and understanding is thru the use of higher order questioning...you know something akin to "blooms taxonomy"...instead of "who", "what", and "where"..more "what if" and "what do you think"..lemme give you an example..

"As I was walking, I saw a dog chase a cat across the road."

Low order question- What chased the cat across the road?

High order question- What are some of the possible reasons the dog began chasing the cat?

Higher order question- Normally cats are afraid of dogs and will run if pursued by them. What do you think would happen if cats were no longer afriad of dogs? Cats are also highly trainable. What types of things would you teach a cat so as to help lessen its fear of dogs?

In teaching circles we call this "stepping up questions"...the key is to go from simple understanding to "synthesis", "evaluation", and "inferring"

I hate to be overly critical but the Watchtower and its adjoining publications , if used by themselves, are hardly suitable,to "teach". Because, of the inherent nature and form of the questions, if used by itself the Magazines and publications hardly do more than force the student to repeat the read info. Therefore, what you have is a group of people, who are nothing more than tape recorders. They record information and can play it back, but they do not fully understand what they have recorded.

I am firm believer, and my experience as a teacher proves, that a student only truly begans to comprehend when he becomes an "independent thinker". Until you develop that key learning skill, you will only have a human tape recorder, who tru to form, does exactly as it is told...never what IT discerns to be right...

PART 2 of this convo...coming later

Gopher

Thanks for that good explanation. The WT Society does not want to challenge its followers to really think for themselves. They TRAIN them like animals, rather than educate them like learning people. There is a huge difference. Education gives a broader perspective, training gives a narrow perspective.

startingover

I agree. Good illustration. WT methods seem to me to be along the lines of chanting, or fingering the rosary.

I'll be looking forward to part 2

asilentone

you have private message, check it out.

ninja

what's a dog?

Meeting Junkie No More

dirtyknections:

What you say really makes sense. I was just thinking about this yesterday. Every one of us has to think independently, it's how we function daily. But in the realm of religion, the Society doesn't want us to think at all, hence their constant bashing of 'independent thinking'. Of course, I only realized this once I actually started thinking for myself, after I quit the weekly indoctrination sessions...you are so right about the 'tape recorder' analogy. I was one of those that played the tape, without ever giving what I was saying a second thought. Great post!

Jadon

Now lets say you spent 50 years researching material and you have gathered a storehouse of information. Now this information will save millions of lives and you only have a short period of time to get it to everyone.

Well you could just tell everyone were to go look to find the information and they could take 50 yrs finding it like you did.

Or, you could put it in a book and save all these people alot of time searching. Now they are more than welcome to challenge your research or refuse it and they can do that on their on time. But you really want to save as many people as you can. Do you waste your time refuting everyone that challanges you or do you go after the those who trust your research.

So you see the dilemma, I challenged everything the JW's had to say and spent 30 yrs doing it just to find out they were right all along.

choosing life

Anyone who refuses to talk with dissenters is a coward. What the watchtower is effectively doing is looking for easily persuaded and controllable persons. It has always bothered me that they refuse to deal with sincere questions and gaping holes in their logic.

Their method of teaching most of us outgrow in elementary school.

parakeet

dirtyknections wrote: "I hate to be overly critical but the Watchtower and its adjoining publications....."

First of all, it's impossible to be overly critical of the WT. It's garbage, and the way it's taught is garbage.

dirtyknections wrote: "I am firm believer, and my experience as a teacher proves, that a student only truly begans to comprehend when he becomes an "independent thinker". Until you develop that key learning skill, you will only have a human tape recorder, who tru to form, does exactly as it is told...never what IT discerns to be right..."

That's exactly what the WTS wants -- human tape-recorder booksellers who never question what they're told. They justify this way of "learning" with the scripture, "Train up a child the way he should grow and he'll never go astray" or something like that. I guess a higher learning question would be: How does the WTS benefit from promoting the force-feeding of garbage down the throats of children and susceptible adults?

BTW, welcome to the forum. You're off to a great start. Good info.

Galileo

Jadon:

You must be an awful researcher. Let me give you a couple points to research.
(1) Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 586 -587 B.C.E., Not 607 B.C.E. as the Witnesses, and ONLY the Witnesses, claim. There is a mountain of historical evidence supporting this, so don't take my word for it. Research it yourself. Without the 607 date, their chronology about 1914 falls apart.
(2) The Tetragrammaton is nowhere in the Greek Scriptures. Not even once. The NWT simply adds it wherever it struck the translators fancy.

Hmmmn..Intresting Convo with my DAD last NIGHT

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