Dumbing down for "inclusion"

[TheParser]

If you major in Classics at Princeton, you won't be required any longer to study Latin or Greek.

One alumnus likens this move to "an engineering department abandoning mathematics and physics."


Source: The Week, June 11, 2021, print edition, page 5.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Ummmm, why would one need to study Greek or Latin?

And ummmm, when it comes down to dumbing down, wouldn't learning science and history serve a certain segment of the American electorate better?

 

[Barros Serrano]

The country was dumbed down for generations as lesser-qualified white males were given positions denied to more intelligent non-whites and women.

The effect of this restriction on the utilization of all our national talent perhaps is why today we've slid into the 2nd world and the rest of the world rolls their eyes at us.

 

[Crovax]

Ummmm, why would one need to study Greek or Latin?

And ummmm, when it comes down to dumbing down, wouldn't learning science and history serve a certain segment of the American electorate better?

You should read the OP again, I think you missed a key part

 

[bluesmoke]

One can understand the English language with its Latin and Greek root words without studying Latin or Greek, but one cannot understand engineering with its basic underpinnings without studying mathematics and physics. The analogy in the OP doesn't work.

 

[Airyaman]

If you major in Classics at Princeton, you won't be required any longer to study Latin or Greek.

One alumnus likens this move to "an engineering department abandoning mathematics and physics."


Source: The Week, June 11, 2021, print edition, page 5.

Other than to complain because some college (private, mind you) is not requiring something for a fancy worthless degree (imo, I'm a practical person), what is the purpose of this thread? Was the OP planning on majoring in Classics? At Princeton?

I sense a whiny right winger complaint thread.

 

[Artymoon]

If we’re referring to classics, I would imagine Latin and Greek to be prominently featured. I wonder why they would no longer require studying the languages associated? Anyone here have a background that could shed some light?

 

[Aunt Antifa]

If you major in Classics at Princeton, you won't be required any longer to study Latin or Greek.

One alumnus likens this move to "an engineering department abandoning mathematics and physics."


Source: The Week, June 11, 2021, print edition, page 5.

That alumnus sounds like a moron.

 

[Aunt Antifa]

If we’re referring to classics, I would imagine Latin and Greek to be prominently featured. I wonder why they would no longer require studying the languages associated? Anyone here have a background that could shed some light?

Do we even know this story is true?

 

[Artymoon]

Do we even know this story is true?

No idea but super easy to verify. Medicine also has a heavy background in Latin and Greek. Those are no longer required courses either in a lot of places. Did we figure out it wasn't adding value or has technology helped us to the point where it is just simply not needed anymore?

 

[Aunt Antifa]

No idea but super easy to verify. Medicine also has a heavy background in Latin and Greek. Those are no longer required courses either in a lot of places. Did we figure out it wasn't adding value or has technology helped us to the point where it is just simply not needed anymore?

I’m quite sure a fluent understanding of latin has shit all to do with modern medical practices.

 

[Artymoon]

I’m quite sure a fluent understanding of latin has shit all to do with modern medical practices.

Not talking fluency. No university is requiring a student to get a separate degree, probably just a class or two. Regarding medicine, a lot of terminology has a basis in those languages so I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have a basic understanding of the structure. As far as the Classics go, it seems at some point you would actually study original content as written so it makes sense to me that a basic understanding of the languages would only help if not make it more enjoyable. However, I've never met a Classic major so who knows.

 

[Aunt Antifa]

Not talking fluency. No university is requiring a student to get a separate degree, probably just a class or two. Regarding medicine, a lot of terminology has a basis in those languages so I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have a basic understanding of the structure. As far as the Classics go, it seems at some point you would actually study original content as written so it makes sense to me that a basic understanding of the languages would only help if not make it more enjoyable. However, I've never met a Classic major so who knows.

I don’t think any of that has anything to do with the application of science.

 

[soylentgreen]

If we’re referring to classics, I would imagine Latin and Greek to be prominently featured. I wonder why they would no longer require studying the languages associated? Anyone here have a background that could shed some light?

There are a few reasons and most have to do with what is called the linnaean system. Which has been un use for near on two thousand years. And therefor so full of inaccuracies that it really does need to be replaced.

This has been a subject of debate in nz for awhile and universities now use the indigenous language for the scientific naming of things instead of that old two latin word system. I expect american universities are moving to update with a similar system. Here is the long winded version of that.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212682113000383

The Linnaean system has a set of rules governing botanical nomenclature, zoological nomenclature and bacteriological nomenclature for the scientific naming of species. These set the principles, rules and standards with which authors should comply with when naming new species. In Aotearoa/New Zealand (ANZ), the knowledge and taxonomic systems of Māori (the indigenous people) have largely been the preserve of Western anthropologists, linguistics and ethnographers. As such, the Linnaean classification system has been superimposed over the pre-existing classifications of Māori since European settlement approximately 200 years ago. A range of strategies have been applied to the naming of new species within a scientific context when using the Māori language (an east-Polynesian language), which do not adhere to the Linnaean system including arbitrary practices, hybridisation, incorrect linguistic context, a lack of full understanding of the meanings of the words and names and questionable naming practices of taxonomists. This paper discusses these issues, including examples, to illustrate the breadth of issues that we encountered. Although no code of practice or set of rules can anticipate or resolve the problem, there is an advantage to developing a set of possible recommendations as to the use of Māori words in the names of new species.

For example, although it is derived from a mountain range, the species name of Vosea whitemanensis (a gray-and-olive honeyeater endemic to the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea) now appears rather questionable.
Where as.

Then there is the conifer Prumnopitys taxifolia, which most New Zealanders know as mataī. Wright, who is Māori, would like to see the term changed to Prumnopitys mataī. “Mataī is a word that comes out of central Oceania, referring to the idea of prominence or leadership,” he says. “I don’t know who named it all those centuries ago, but when you see the mature tree—this huge presence in the forest—you think, ‘That’s a name that really fits. ’”

 

[Artymoon]

There are a few reasons and most have to do with what is called the linnaean system. Which has been un use for near on two thousand years. And therefor so full of inaccuracies that it really does need to be replaced.

This has been a subject of debate in nz for awhile and universities now use the indigenous language for the scientific naming of things instead of that old two latin word system. I expect american universities are moving to update with a similar system. Here is the long winded version of that.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212682113000383

It seemed there must be a logical reason. Many thanks for the article and insight.

 

[soylentgreen]

It seemed there must be a logical reason. Many thanks for the article and insight.

Just edited it for another site that gives some examples of the changes. Makes more sense and would americans use native languages do you think?

 

[Barros Serrano]

If we’re referring to classics, I would imagine Latin and Greek to be prominently featured. I wonder why they would no longer require studying the languages associated? Anyone here have a background that could shed some light?

I know multiple languages, and can assert that if you are going to study any literature it is necessary to read it in the original language. Translation ALWAYS changes things.

Classics means the works of ancient Greeks and Romans, and they wrote in Greek and Latin. If I were going to attempt to become a Vedic scholar I would learn Sanskrit, not study English translations, however good.

 

[Artymoon]

Just edited it for another site that gives some examples of the changes. Makes more sense and would americans use native languages do you think?

In the U.S., there were hundreds of native languages and Native American words still figure prominently in things related to geography. Most of us have no idea the underlying meaning. It would definitely paint a cool picture but obviously isn't necessary as lot of these languages have mostly disappeared.

 

[bluesmoke]

An interesting discussion. However, the point of the OP is a debate fail.