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culorut
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Jan 2007
Location: right here
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Apr-19-2009 15:15
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Lebezniatnikov
Stupidity Annoys Me

Registered: Feb 2004
Location: DC
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| quote: | Originally posted by {b.s.e.}
Read Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley if you want to begin to understand the bigger picture. |
I was talking to one of my professors recently who has written a fairly important book in the field of International Development, and he commented that discussing his book in class is increasingly more frustrating every year, as the students in the class seem to misunderstand his conclusions by a greater margin every year. The culprit, in his opinion, is the internet, where many students go to find summaries written by unknown authors with a specific agenda - in lieu of actually taking the time to read the book. This is an endemic problem, and it's actually amusing to witness as students and would-be academics across the country reference things they've never actually read but "understand" only by way of reputation or third party.
The professor went on to say that certain topics seem to register immediately with particular works or authors - and that students will often make the right connection for the wrong reason. For instance, many associate Paul Collier's "The Bottom Billion" with the most extreme forms of poverty - it's easy to assume that he has specific policy recommendations for reaching the poorest component of the world's population, no? Well, in reality, Collier seems to suggest that we should focus on the moderately poor, or those most near "turning points" toward prosperity. Though he does deal with the poor, to cite Collier as a fundamental source on the world's poorest is something of a mistake (other people have written on that topic more exclusively).
I'm not saying you haven't read the book. I'm just saying that your inability to discuss anything that lies therein gives me a lot of skepticism as to whether it actually says what you think it says. Especially since that book in particular is oft-quoted by disreputable sources that use it to draw conclusions not actually propagated by said book.
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Apr-19-2009 19:56
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