Pragmatism has gotten a bad rap over the years.
Coined by John Dewey it is often regarded as the American philosophy
More so than Objectivism
The bad rap comes from an effective campaign of people who don’t want you to succeed.
If you know the wrong facts about Dewey
then you know he is credited with the American k-12 education model
-false-
He pioneered the Dewey decimal system
-true-
He advocated for standardized testing
-false-
If you know the mis-characterizations of pragmatism then you may have heard
Follow your emotions… Take Action
-Rucka Rucka Ali
Pragmatism is concerned with getting the job done at any practical cost. It is not a cruelty free philosophy. If a man stands in your way and killing him allows you to cross, then that is the pragmatic demand of the situation.
-H.B. Brag
Pragmatism is just an excuse to justify a Hedonistic lifestyle. “Do What Feels Good.”
Over what is actually and objectively good for both you and society at large.
– Stephen Strawman
But the truth is simple, yet nuisance and messy as with all things in life.
The truth (IMHO) is that pragmatism would best be described as the Scientific Method applied to life.
Pragmatists start with their feelings that is true. They use those feelings to form a hypothesis.
Hypothesis- “I should be a banker.”
then they gather data and preform tests as necessary to prove or disprove that hypothesis.
LONG before they declare a college major and/or career path.
The end result helps them decide whether or not to pursue banking.
Some people will love banking, Some will not but could stand it, and some one you know thinks it’s a great idea but you know they will burn out of the finance world like a magician’s flash-paper.
Now Education and Pragmatism
Dewey advocated not for a grading system and standardized tests but for a system closer to UN-schooling. Where the teacher is a facilitators and course direction and study is determined by the students who create their own projects and experiments then evaluate the results of the experiment as well as their course of action. Their can not be a grade scale because even in failure knowledge will be gained on evaluation. As opposed to the current American model or rote memorization and regurgitate on demand.
for example
if you remember
THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWER-HOUSE OF THE CELL.
That is because of hours and hours of rote learning.
(Which has it’s place. Letters, math tables, trig functions. Many things can be learned best through rote education.)
What can not be learned through rote education is Critical Thinking and Abstract Problem Solving.
Pragmatism teaches you where to start
with a feeling
“I feel like I can do a back-flip.”
teaches you to test that feeling against reality
-tries back-flip
Measure the outcome. Did you succeed or fail? Why? Did you enjoy the attempt?
Then that serves as a basis for continuing forward.
I write these thorns to solidify, my own positions on these topics. Because the mere act of writing a short and finished -though unpolished- article has helped my writing speed and quality in my true calling Pulp novella writing.
I actually get more energy and focus after having written an article like this than if I was just to tick away an equivalent word count or about 1-2% of my next novella. This boost in my mood about having something personally achieved allows me to tackle the 5-15% novella quota I have each week.
This is pragmatism in action.
It took two hours in writing this but I know that It was worth more than the 3 hours I spent last week on Twitter entertaining myself and trying to convince myself that I am learning how to optimize my exposure on the platform @hppotweeter. Be tea dubs.
Much love, HngyHngyHppo
hngyhngyhppo 