Guest guest Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 I think that the brainwashing and degradation of the mind begins in Kindergarten, and progressively worsens throughout public school " education. " (I'm still angry about making a C on a worksheet on the difference between " wants " and " needs " by placing various household appliances and automobiles in the " wants " category in 2nd grade.) Since the rationale for not requiring a bachelor's degree is that the collegiate process destroys the ability to think on one's own, then perhaps no education at all should be required for entry into the TCM Master's Program. Only home-schooled individuals and high school drop-outs, along with a few rare public-schooled students with " native " intelligence would have intact brains that are capable of " getting " TCM pattern recognition. rw2 wrote:Marnae, I emphatically agree with your suggestions about taking students directly out of high school. Some of my very best students have been either straight out of high school or else have had only a year of college - not enough to warp their minds or brainwash them. I've also had my share of talented and capable MDs. However, in the majority of cases, I've found that most people do not seem to survive higher education with their minds and thinking ability intact. Political correctness, going along with the herd, losing their critical reasoning ability, thinking you know all there is to be learned are all common side effects of college and graduate school. Because TCM is so radically different from Western modes of thinking, I find myself, as a teacher, spending a lot of time deprogramming faulty thinking. However, I can think of four students of mine who are now highly capable practitioners, who all instantly " got " the idea of TCM pattern recognition - all seem to have a high native intelligence, and I am grateful that it was not destroyed by " higher " education. As for the current state of bachelor's education in the U.S. - it is largely mickey mouse, and anyone who insists on it as a prerequisite for professional practice is merely wanting to add on unnecessary hurdles to enter the profession to protect their own economic advantage. The only prerequisites I specify are human anatomy and physiology, biochemistry optional - if a high school graduate can do well in these courses, they have already demonstrated that they possess both the ability and willingness to learn what it takes. As for the humanities - this is better left to people reading on their own - a better education can be obtained from self-study and worldly experience than in most colleges. Interesting statistics: " The United States is 49th in the world in literacy " (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004). " The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy " (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). All this IN SPITE of having more college graduates per capita than most other nations in the world! And, yes, I am also tired of this double standard with respect to Chinese vs. Western-European. I think it is terribly naive to assume that just because someone has a Chinese surname, they are automatically more knowledgeable of TCM. I think, though, that this is not just a Chinese vs. American phenomenon. We Americans have long tended to assume that foreigners are more sophisticated than ourselves. In the 19th century America, culture was often imported from Europe in the form of traveling lecturers, poets, novelists, and scientists to help educate and refine the rubes and s out in the vast American hinterland. A friend of mine in college once joked that visiting professors from Germany or Britain could say anything at all and American students would be hypnotized by the musical sound of their accents. ---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/ Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org > Marnae Ergil <marnae >Re: Re: bachelor's degree > >It is interesting to me that we are able to unquestionably accept the >education of someone who studied in China as sufficient but that we believe >that we should have extensive undergraduate training prior to beginning our >education. > >It should be remembered that in China, education in CM is UNDERGRADUATE >EDUCATION. Students enter colleges of CM at about age 17 or 18, straight >out of high school, with absolutely no liberal arts bacground and often >with no philosophy, religion, linguistics, cultural studies or biomedical >sciences. Is it just because they are Chinese that we feel that these are >necessary for us but not for them? Is this knowledge somehow innate? I am >not trying to say that the 5 years of education that these individuals >receive is " lacking " (but remember that much of it is NOT Chinese medicine) >but simply that we should look at our own notions of what an appropriate >education is and what an appropriate educational background is. Maybe we >would be better off getting students straight out of high school before >they think they already know everything there is to know and are still >excited about learning and willing to have their views of the world >influenced. I'm not sure I really feel this way, and I certainly know that >the student with an excellent background in Asian Studies, Chinese >language, biomedical sciences and anthropology usually makes the best >student of Chinese medicine, but why do we have such different standards? > >Marnae > ---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/ Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org Chinese Herbal Medicine offers various professional services, including board approved continuing education classes, an annual conference and a free discussion forum in Chinese Herbal Medicine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Jamie, Sadly, I agree with you. The brainwashing does start in kindergarten, but I find that at least a small percentage of people survive it. The college experience is more intense, and because students who attend college **choose** it, they are more likely to buy into the whole mess. Through high school, one endures because it is required and subsidized by the state. But students often pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for college and graduate school. Marketing people know well that if you can get someone to pay a lot of money for something, they will be more likely to fully embrace the product. It takes a huge amount of fortitude and self-examination to admit that one's hundred-thousand dollar education was packed with propaganda and lies. Roger > Jamie Koonce <untothewholeperson >Re: Re: Re: bachelor's degree > >I think that the brainwashing and degradation of the mind begins in Kindergarten, and progressively worsens throughout public school " education. " (I'm still angry about making a C on a worksheet on the difference between " wants " and " needs " by placing various household appliances and automobiles in the " wants " category in 2nd grade.) Since the rationale for not requiring a bachelor's degree is that the collegiate process destroys the ability to think on one's own, then perhaps no education at all should be required for entry into the TCM Master's Program. Only home-schooled individuals and high school drop-outs, along with a few rare public-schooled students with " native " intelligence would have intact brains that are capable of " getting " TCM pattern recognition. > >rw2 wrote:Marnae, > >I emphatically agree with your suggestions about taking students directly out of high school. Some of my very best students have been either straight out of high school or else have had only a year of college - not enough to warp their minds or brainwash them. I've also had my share of talented and capable MDs. However, in the majority of cases, I've found that most people do not seem to survive higher education with their minds and thinking ability intact. ... ---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/ Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 **choose** it, they are more likely to buy into the whole mess. >>>>> Roger When i was there many could not even choose and truly did not want to study TCM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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