Suppose you asked me to start a rationality dojo. What would I do?
I would tell you “Do not start a rationality dojo. It is a bad idea.” A science camp, a programming camp, a math camp, a rhetoric camp and a Bible camp are all much better ideas.
But what if you offered me a lot of money? Then I would do it even though it is a bad idea.
Part 1: Philosophy
Lesson 1: What is Justice?
I would start by giving every student a toga. I’d decorate the facility in the style of Ancient Greece. Two teachers would wear togas too. One teacher would play the role of Socrates. The other teacher would play the role of Aristotle. There would be a buffet with modern Greek food (because ancient Greek food is missing tasty ingredients like tomatoes).
The purpose of Socrates is to teach the things Socrates teaches in the Dialogues of Plato.
The purpose of Aristotle is to teach the students to question authority.
Aristotle was wrong about basically everything. At the end of Lesson 1, students will be informed that they never should have trusted Aristotle.
Lesson 2: What is the Way?
Same as previous, except we use four Chinese scholars instead: Laozi (Daoism), Sunzi (practical Daoism), Mozi (legalism) and Confucious (Confucianism). Decoration is Chinese. Food is Chinese.
Students will be encouraged to use the Greek philosophical ideas they learned in Lesson 1 against the Chinese philosophers of Lesson 2.
Lesson 3: Economics
This time it’s economists: Queen Elizabeth (mercantilism), Adam Smith (libertarian), Karl Marx (communist), Joseph Stalin (Communist), John Keynes (Keyenesian economics), Leonidas (slavery)
Lesson 4: Government
George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, Xerxes, Mohammad, Catherine the Great, Leonidas
Lesson 5: Civil Rights
Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther, Moses, etcetera.
Lesson 6+
…you get the idea.
Summary
You might notice that at no point do I teach “rationality”. That’s because rationality is all about distrusting authority. Authority cannot (directly) teach students to distrust it. Distrust must be taught indirectly.
Part 2: Science
Lesson 1: Prove, via experiment, the Earth is round.
Lesson 2: Measure the diameter of the Earth.
Lesson 3: Mathematical proofs.
Lesson 4+: …you get the idea.
Part 3: Rhetoric
Students will have mock debates against each other. Timers will be used.
Part 4: Technology
Students will be taught to use the Linux command line.
Part 5: Scalable Action
Students will build a full-stack website with an AWS Lambda backend.
Rationality Dojo
Suppose you asked me to start a rationality dojo. What would I do?
I would tell you “Do not start a rationality dojo. It is a bad idea.” A science camp, a programming camp, a math camp, a rhetoric camp and a Bible camp are all much better ideas.
But what if you offered me a lot of money? Then I would do it even though it is a bad idea.
Part 1: Philosophy
Lesson 1: What is Justice?
I would start by giving every student a toga. I’d decorate the facility in the style of Ancient Greece. Two teachers would wear togas too. One teacher would play the role of Socrates. The other teacher would play the role of Aristotle. There would be a buffet with modern Greek food (because ancient Greek food is missing tasty ingredients like tomatoes).
The purpose of Socrates is to teach the things Socrates teaches in the Dialogues of Plato.
The purpose of Aristotle is to teach the students to question authority.
Aristotle was wrong about basically everything. At the end of Lesson 1, students will be informed that they never should have trusted Aristotle.
Lesson 2: What is the Way?
Same as previous, except we use four Chinese scholars instead: Laozi (Daoism), Sunzi (practical Daoism), Mozi (legalism) and Confucious (Confucianism). Decoration is Chinese. Food is Chinese.
Students will be encouraged to use the Greek philosophical ideas they learned in Lesson 1 against the Chinese philosophers of Lesson 2.
Lesson 3: Economics
This time it’s economists: Queen Elizabeth (mercantilism), Adam Smith (libertarian), Karl Marx (communist), Joseph Stalin (Communist), John Keynes (Keyenesian economics), Leonidas (slavery)
Lesson 4: Government
George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, Xerxes, Mohammad, Catherine the Great, Leonidas
Lesson 5: Civil Rights
Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther, Moses, etcetera.
Lesson 6+
…you get the idea.
Summary
You might notice that at no point do I teach “rationality”. That’s because rationality is all about distrusting authority. Authority cannot (directly) teach students to distrust it. Distrust must be taught indirectly.
Part 2: Science
Lesson 1: Prove, via experiment, the Earth is round.
Lesson 2: Measure the diameter of the Earth.
Lesson 3: Mathematical proofs.
Lesson 4+: …you get the idea.
Part 3: Rhetoric
Students will have mock debates against each other. Timers will be used.
Part 4: Technology
Students will be taught to use the Linux command line.
Part 5: Scalable Action
Students will build a full-stack website with an AWS Lambda backend.