The most interesting conversation is not about why Donald Trump lies. Many public figures lie, and he's only a severe example of a common type. The interesting conversation concerns how we come to accept those lies.
Bret StephensRead
I routinely interview college students, mostly from top schools, and I notice that their brains are like old maps, with lots of blank spaces for the uncharted terrain. It's not that they lack for motivation or IQ. It's that they can't connect the dots when they don't know where the dots are in the first place.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how educated individuals may still struggle to make connections without prior knowledge or context.
In this quote, Bret Stephens emphasizes that despite being intelligent and motivated, many college students do not have the necessary background knowledge to link concepts effectively. The imagery of their brains as 'old maps' suggests that they possess foundational information but lack pathways to understand new ideas or complex relationships, implying that education should also focus on providing context and connections, rather than just facts alone.
Themes
EducationKnowledgeConnectionsLearningMaps
In practice
Example use cases
In a class discussion about the importance of foundational knowledge in education, this quote can illustrate a common challenge among students.
More from Bret Stephens
All quotes →The more afraid we are of the shadow of racism, the more conscious we might become of our own unsuspected biases.
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We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.
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The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals.
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