Professor Bloom

I will likely make notes from time to time as I go through this book.  His is the sort of clear mind which is sorely lacking in nearly all universities, and which I would have loved to have encountered in my own education. He taught himself to see what was in front of him, while retaining a memory of what was ideal.  Put another way, he deals honestly with life’s contradictions, a feat which is perhaps the summit of what education at its best makes possible.  Certainly, that is what I hear him arguing thus far.

He makes the point that whereas parents and grandparents in the past viewed it as their task to inculcate notions as to what is good and desirable, parents today focus more or less on vocational preparation.  He comments as well that with the ubiquity of media, parents have lost much control over their childrens moral development, even when they do try to instill what they consider moral values.

One point I found particularly interesting is the importance of music in culture, and thus in political life.  I think I have always sensed this.  I worked hard to bring my kids up with good, wholesome, honest, “life” music.  Both of them have thanked me specifically on a number of occasions for raising them with good music.

In any home there is always what is said and what is present but not said.  You want both to be in harmony, in congruence.  Music is a beautiful way to speak without talking.