School, ideas and values in the age of tl;dr. Essay

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zeněk ježek

In the world that offers us an abundance of information, opinions or attitudes, what can be trusted to? Does the school education provide any sufficient tools to find a way in this flood of information? Is it possible to use common sense to fight with misinformation? Furthermore, are not the metaphors of a flood and a fight only linguistic devices shifting the meaning of the entire subject matter from rationality to emotionality?
The society of the 21st century has to cope with many pitfalls. One of them is the oversaturation with information, in which a nonexpert has no chance to find a correct one – but at the same time, everyone faces not only to the possibility, but rather to the obligation to opt an opinion. In public discussion, a simplification frequently occurs, complex topics are reduced to plain theses, and a profound analysis is substituted with the afterword tl;dr. Too long; didn’t read.
This essay deals with the issue of the relation between education and values, using examples of working with literary texts to explore how to develop comprehension, analytical skills and a willingness to avoid simple explanations of complex topics.