DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970 | 1970-11-13 Daily Iowan Article: ""The Muckraker"" Page 1

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

1970-11-13 Daily Iowan Article: ""The Muckraker"" Page 1

1 (of 2)
The Muckraker   DI 11/13/70
"Sutton, do you really believe that higher education was invented to torment us?"
"Of course not, Mingus. Universities were created to provide a sanctuary for mediocre minds."
"You never give a straight answer, do you?"
"The people understand parables only."
"Glib, again."
"Parables are facts dressed up to look like fiction. Less threateneing."
"What about torment?"
"If you really want to know, Mingus, universities were invented to help us learn, and the way they help us learn is by tormenting us. Suffering is just a means to a pedagogic end."
"You exasperate me in the most amusing way."
"You're evading me."
"Would you care to hear my phrase of the week? 'He was so honest that, when he had nothing to say, he said nothing.' Original too."
"What an ego-trip."
"That's the trouble with great men, Mingus. They're so pretentious that they make you wonder if you'll ever make it. By the way, there's a direct relation between ego and greatness. Shaw, Russell, Plato, Christ. Nothing wrong with ego if you've got the real stuff to go with it, and you're not threatening enough for authority to take you seriously."
"What about torment?"
"Well, you shouldn't be surprised to find that idea around here. It goes way, way back, though we sometimes call it operant conditioning nowadays. Learning through suffering is an idea which higher education shares with another medieval institution, the Church. You know: Through suffering we attain enlightenment. So we have grades and schedules and deadlines and late payments and parking fines and . . . ."
"Do you believe we learn by suffering?"
"No, I don't believe it. The most I can say is that we learn about suffering by suffering. But some people around here believe suffering is a prerequisite for insight. As if learning were achieved by enduring an academic puberty rite. Ever notice the connetion between Puritanism and the mediocfre academic mind?"
"But doesn't the university preserve the history of man's creative dreams?"
"It's been known to pickle the history of man's creative dreams. And I doubt much sincere reverence for culture goes on. I mean, if a professor of English really believed in culture, he'd protest network TV at the MLA. Very few are committed enough to let principle stand in the way of professionalism.
"Besides, Mingus, who wants to live in someone else's creative system if he has the capacity to create his own? We must create our own systems of imaginative reality or be enslaved in someone else's. That's the torment of education, Mingus: Forcing youth to adapt to versions of reality which they are not responsible for. If we want a world we can live in, we will have to create it ourselves like Los at the anvil."
"Blake."
"Are you the one in a million who was profited from his education, Mingus?"
"Shaw, adapted."
"Why not? EVerythign is fodder for the imagination. Even the imagination is fodder for the imagination. The only responsibility in building on the bones of one's intellectual ancestors is that the bones must become a part of you. It's barbaric to wear their relics around one's neck as a badge of authority, like an academic cowl."
"Whew, Sutton, listening to you is like what a rush would be if it were ideas instead of pictures."
"I'm so high on imagination, Mingus, that anything artificial would push me off the graph."
"Now, what about this third criticism?"
"Where?"
"Right here, Sutton, see? You always write about what the university doesn't do and why don't you write about what it does do?"
"But Mingus, I thought that's what I was doing."
"C'mon Sutton, answer the argument."
"C'mon, Mingus. You don't really want me to sink to defensive behavior, do you? Recrimination is the first refuge of small minds."
"Like one-upsmanship is vile."
"Right, Mingus. I used to write answers, hoping to illuminate my critics. But I never received any replies to my replies, except from John Huntley, who is secretly on my side anyway. This gave me the idea that most of the people were arguing because they wanted to prevail, to win. That's a very unaesthetic attitude. One should be pre-

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1 (of 2) The Muckraker DI 11/13/70 "Sutton, do you really believe that higher education was invented to torment us?" "Of course not, Mingus. Universities were created to provide a sanctuary for mediocre minds." "You never give a straight answer, do you?" "The people understand parables only." "Glib, again." "Parables are facts dressed up to look like fiction. Less threateneing." "What about torment?" "If you really want to know, Mingus, universities were invented to help us learn, and the way they help us learn is by tormenting us. Suffering is just a means to a pedagogic end." "You exasperate me in the most amusing way." "You're evading me." "Would you care to hear my phrase of the week? 'He was so honest that, when he had nothing to say, he said nothing.' Original too." "What an ego-trip." "That's the trouble with great men, Mingus. They're so pretentious that they make you wonder if you'll ever make it. By the way, there's a direct relation between ego and greatness. Shaw, Russell, Plato, Christ. Nothing wrong with ego if you've got the real stuff to go with it, and you're not threatening enough for authority to take you seriously." "What about torment?" "Well, you shouldn't be surprised to find that idea around here. It goes way, way back, though we sometimes call it operant conditioning nowadays. Learning through suffering is an idea which higher education shares with another medieval institution, the Church. You know: Through suffering we attain enlightenment. So we have grades and schedules and deadlines and late payments and parking fines and . . . ." "Do you believe we learn by suffering?" "No, I don't believe it. The most I can say is that we learn about suffering by suffering. But some people around here believe suffering is a prerequisite for insight. As if learning were achieved by enduring an academic puberty rite. Ever notice the connetion between Puritanism and the mediocfre academic mind?" "But doesn't the university preserve the history of man's creative dreams?" "It's been known to pickle the history of man's creative dreams. And I doubt much sincere reverence for culture goes on. I mean, if a professor of English really believed in culture, he'd protest network TV at the MLA. Very few are committed enough to let principle stand in the way of professionalism. "Besides, Mingus, who wants to live in someone else's creative system if he has the capacity to create his own? We must create our own systems of imaginative reality or be enslaved in someone else's. That's the torment of education, Mingus: Forcing youth to adapt to versions of reality which they are not responsible for. If we want a world we can live in, we will have to create it ourselves like Los at the anvil." "Blake." "Are you the one in a million who was profited from his education, Mingus?" "Shaw, adapted." "Why not? EVerythign is fodder for the imagination. Even the imagination is fodder for the imagination. The only responsibility in building on the bones of one's intellectual ancestors is that the bones must become a part of you. It's barbaric to wear their relics around one's neck as a badge of authority, like an academic cowl." "Whew, Sutton, listening to you is like what a rush would be if it were ideas instead of pictures." "I'm so high on imagination, Mingus, that anything artificial would push me off the graph." "Now, what about this third criticism?" "Where?" "Right here, Sutton, see? You always write about what the university doesn't do and why don't you write about what it does do?" "But Mingus, I thought that's what I was doing." "C'mon Sutton, answer the argument." "C'mon, Mingus. You don't really want me to sink to defensive behavior, do you? Recrimination is the first refuge of small minds." "Like one-upsmanship is vile." "Right, Mingus. I used to write answers, hoping to illuminate my critics. But I never received any replies to my replies, except from John Huntley, who is secretly on my side anyway. This gave me the idea that most of the people were arguing because they wanted to prevail, to win. That's a very unaesthetic attitude. One should be pre-