He can, by the use of the
case method, teach the pupil the habit of examining the sources of his
information. He can teach him, for example, to look in his newspaper
for the place where the dispatch was filed, for the name of the
correspondent, the name of the press service, the authority given for
the statement, the circumstances under which the statement was
secured. He can teach the pupil to ask himself whether the reporter
saw what he describes, and to remember how that reporter described
other events in the past. He can teach him the character of
censorship, of the idea of privacy, and furnish him with knowledge of
past propaganda. He can, by the proper use of history, make him aware
of the stereotype, and can educate a habit of introspection about the
imagery evoked by printed words. He can, by courses in comparative
history and anthropology, produce a life-long realization of the way
codes impose a special pattern upon the imagination. He can teach men
to catch themselves making allegories, dramatizing relations, and
personifying abstractions. He can show the pupil how he identifies
himself with these allegories, how he becomes interested, and how he
selects the attitude, heroic, romantic, economic which he adopts while
holding a particular opinion. The study of error is not only in the
highest degree prophylactic, but it serves as a stimulating
introduction to the study of truth.
Pages:
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420