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The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED

2011-05-18 · explainer · John · 3:51 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Books & writing) · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore

Prompted by Hank's commencement poem, John rejects the hard-soft continuum of school subjects: math and literature are both studied to learn a language and to understand our place in the universe, literature has wrong answers, authorial intent is the uninteresting question, and the brain is neither a math nor a literature organ.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Date and Button Your Button Day; John has finished the big revision of his novel and watched Hank's poetic commencement address

  • ★★★ John says that in the last 24 hours he finished the big revision of his novel. — 00:00:04 · John's untitled novel (2011)
  • ★★ John says Hank's poetic commencement address made him think about education and why we're alive. — 00:00:08 · education

00:00:13 — The soft-hard continuum of subjects (math hard, literature soft, history, physics, biology, psychology, economics) and John calling it Warner Chilcott

  • ★★ John describes the common view of education as a soft-hard continuum: math at the hard end with one right answer, literature at the soft end about being a person among others. — 00:00:13 · education
  • ★ John jokingly ranks subjects: history soft, physics hard, biology in the middle, psychology thinks it is hard but is soft, economics thinks it is soft but is hard. (playful) — 00:00:34
  • ★★★ John says that in his opinion the soft-hard continuum is complete nonsense, using 'Warner Chilcott' in place of a swear word. — 00:00:49

00:00:54 — Studying math is learning a language and understanding the universe; literature is studied for the same two reasons; the claim that math has one answer and literature none

  • ★★ John says studying math is first learning mathematical language, from the abstract idea of seven to algebra's letters, a language that grows ever more complex. — 00:00:54
  • ★ John says reading Brotherhood 2.0's resident mathematician Daniel Biss makes him feel illiterate. — 00:01:12 · Daniel Biss, Brotherhood 2.0
  • ★★★ John says math’s second purpose is understanding the universe: knowing the square root of four is two helps us build cathedrals and think about space. — 00:01:17
  • ★ John jokes that knowing the square root of four is two also helps us make out with people. (joke) — 00:01:25
  • ★★★ John argues we study math and literature for the same twin reasons: to learn a language and to understand our place in the universe. — 00:01:34 · education
  • ★★★ John says that what angers him is the claim that math has one right answer while every answer in literature is equally correct: math often has several correct answers, and literature has wrong ones. — 00:01:45

00:01:56 — Not every answer is right in literature (Huckleberry Finn); authorial intent is the uninteresting question (Paper Towns' Great White Wall of Cow and Moby-Dick); critical reading opens the big questions

  • ★★ John says anyone who thinks The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a pro-slavery novel is wrong. — 00:02:04
  • ★ John jokes that such a reader of Huckleberry Finn is as wrong as someone who thinks the square root of four is strawberries. (joke) — 00:02:08
  • ★★★ John tells students that most questions asked in literature classes, such as whether the author intended a symbol or metaphor, are not interesting. — 00:02:14
  • ★★★ John says it doesn't matter whether, writing Paper Towns, he meant the Great White Wall of Cow to reference Moby-Dick's whale; it is there to make readers think about nature's apathy toward individuals and the heroic response. — 00:02:30 · Paper Towns
  • ★★★ John says critical reading for theme, metaphor and symbol matters because it is a way into the big questions, many of them the same ones math tries to answer. — 00:02:46

00:03:00 — The brain is neither a literature nor a math organ; nerds understand relativity and kiss well; messages to math people and literature people

  • ★★★ John says most people see themselves as literature people or math people, but the brain is neither a literature organ nor a math organ: it is both and more. — 00:03:00
  • ★★ John argues that, putting aside learning for its own sake, understanding the universe and its inhabitants is helpful in pretty much every human endeavor. — 00:03:11
  • ★ John jokes that this is why nerds, in his experience, are more likely to understand special relativity and also more likely to be good at kissing. (joke) — 00:03:14
  • ★★★ John tells math people that imaginary stories can be as engaging as imaginary numbers, and literature people that set theory is as beautiful as The Great Gatsby. — 00:03:23

00:03:37 — Sign-off muddle over which day it is; days of the week are both math and literature

  • ★ After muddling which day he will see Hank, John concludes that days of the week are both math and literature. (playful) — 00:03:37

Humor (significant)

  • After laying out the soft-hard continuum of school subjects, John gives his verdict on it. — 00:00:49

    “that continuum is complete and utter... Warner Chilcott.”

  • John insists, shouting, that not every answer is equally correct in literature. — 00:02:03

    “I am a giant squid of anger!”

  • Thinking Huckleberry Finn is a pro-slavery novel is wrong in the same way as a math error... — 00:02:04

    “You’re as wrong as you are if you think that the square root of four is strawberries!”

  • Understanding the universe helps in every endeavor, which is why nerds are likelier to understand special relativity... — 00:03:11

    “and also more likely to be good at kissing.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: authorial intent · education · literature · mathematics

Also: People: Daniel Biss

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Works: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · John's untitled novel (2011) · Moby-Dick · Paper Towns · The Great Gatsby

Organizations: Warner Chilcott

Terms: giant squid of anger

Concepts: absurdism · close reading · nerd

Characters: Great White Wall of Cow

Only in the description or credits: Karen Kavett

Also centred on authorial intent: Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!! · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) · On the Movies · On the Death of the Author

Also centred on mathematics: Go Play! · This 'Math Test' Changed How I See Humanity

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