In the same way that we need statesmen to spare us the abjection of exercising power, we need scholars to spare us the abjection of learning.
Interpretation
Baudrillard suggests that just as we require politicians to manage power responsibly, we also need scholars to guide us in the pursuit of knowledge without degrading the learning experience.
In this quote, Jean Baudrillard reflects on the vital roles of statesmen and scholars in society. He draws a parallel between the necessity of statesmen to wield power wisely, thus preventing the negative aspects of authority, and the need for scholars to approach the act of learning with integrity and depth, avoiding its trivialization. Baudrillard emphasizes that both governance and education are crucial in shaping a meaningful society, highlighting the responsibilities that come with these roles.
In practice
As a professor, I often refer to Baudrillard when discussing the importance of integrity in education.
The war was won on both sides: by the Vietnamese on the ground, by the Americans in the electronic mental space. And if the one side won an ideological and political victory, the other made Apocalypse Now and that has gone right around the world.
Television knows no night. It is perpetual day. TV embodies our fear of the dark, of night, of the other side of things.
This false distance is present everywhere: in spy films, in Godard, in modern advertising, which uses it continually as a cultural allusion. It is not really clear in the end whether this 'cool' smile is the smile of humour or that of commercial complicity. This is also the case with pop, and its smile ultimately encapsulates all its ambiguity: it is not the smile of critical distance, but the smile of collusion
There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world.
the neighborhood is nothing but a protective zone- remodeling, disinfection, a snobbish and hygenic design- but above all in a figurative sense: it is a machine for making emptiness.
Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy. In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.
Coaching is the great passion of my life, and the job to me has always been an opportunity to work with our student athletes and help them discover what they want.
The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.
I have a responsibility to pass on to the next generation what I learned from my teachers, ... It keeps me young and reminds me where I came from. Teaching young artists is like giving water to a flower.
The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading.
When I left home after graduating high school, I left as a migrant agricultural worker with a Modern Library edition of Plato in my duffel bag. It sounds kind of crazy, but I loved it. I loved the stuff. Before I knew there was a subject called philosophy, I loved it.
Africa's youth are probably one of its greatest resources. There's a tendency to see youth, for example as a problem. But for the continent of Africa, youth are an opportunity, and they are an opportunity that the continent needs to take advantage of.
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