The authors’ Acknowledgments begin:
We wish to thank Adam Moses and Hugo Lindgren at New York Magazine for encouraging us to “geek out” in our stories, trusting that readers would be turned on, not turned off, by the depth of the science we covered. (p. 241)
I am not surprised readers are “turned on” by social science. It is another example of our aphilosophical society. When I remind teachers and administrators that their own philosophy of education is the most powerful driver of their work; and when I tell them findings of psychological, sociological, and educational studies address the periphery of their work; it does not take long before they once again ask, “What does the research say about best practices?” They have been taught to believe in the social science improvement paradigm, even though few of them have ever applied research findings to their practice, or even know what that looks like. I don’t know what it looks like, either.
This blog uses the social science described in NurtureShock’s chapter 1 to argue that philosophy provides better child rearing guidance than either old or new social science. NurtureSchlock, Part 3 does the same with the science described in chapter 10. Chapters 1 and 10 are examples of how the book uses “the fascinating new science of children to reveal just how many of our bedrock assumptions about kids can no longer be counted on” (p. 6). Is this new science really so fascinating?
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5 comments ↓
But…it sure is nice to have both the common sense, six virtues philosophy backed up by social science as your explanations reveal. Even though you may not need the science aspect to prove what you already know, it’s useful to have the science evidence to back up your philosophies when explaining them to others. It kind of made more sense to me when looking at the six virtues and comparing that set of beliefs with a social science experiment that basically proved the sis virtues philosophy.
Yes David. At the end of Chapter 9 I ask readers to test the six-virtue philosophy in their own experience. I presented two hypothetical situations to show them how they might test it. The NurtureShock book provided another set of examples. The author’s social scientific explanations were like finger nails across the chalkboard to me. I wrote all over the book margins that the childrens’ behaviors were poorly explained by the social science, but beautifully explained by the six virtue philosophy. I love irony.
Great work keep it coming
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Thanks for the post, keep posting stuff
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