The Big Questions: Perhaps There Are Just Two!

SUMMARY
The British philosopher, A.C. Grayling, identifies his two favourite questions: what is the good and how do we know. The importance of teachers asking these questions and applying them in the digital age is examined.

A.C. Grayling

A.C. Grayling guardian.co.uk 

I have long been an admirer of the British philosopher A.C. Grayling. In his interview today with Mary Hynes on CBC's Tapestry, he discussed his new work The Good Book: A Humanist Bible. I urge you to listen to the interview now or catch the program as a podcast by next week.

Anthony Grayling's essays are direct, kind, and insistent in their call to the rational life. Whether you are a religious believer or a humanist, Grayling challenges you to think clearly in all that you do. In today's interview, he quoted Bertrand Russell:

Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.

He identified two great questions we should think about, from rising in the morning to retiring at night: what is the good (i.e. the good and ethical life) and how do we know (i.e. know what and how we know). These questions are not the prerogative of philosophers but should be embraced by all of us, especially when one considers one's life lasts about 1000 months (according to Solon, one of Grayling's sources)!

The Big Questions for Education
It strikes me that these are indeed the big questions for teachers and their students. And make no mistake about it. These are not just questions for gifted secondary students. They are the foundation of every teaching and learning strategy at every grade level or school context ... from the six-year old asking "Why should I share?" to the sixteen-year old demanding "How did you prove that equation?" Ethical and epistemological building blocks scaffold the curriculum in every subject.

Teachers, teacher-librarians, and school administrators are privileged to make these questions their life. And when mundane administrative tasks and information demands threaten to darken our day, such questions are the patterns that may illuminate our way.

Goodness and Knowing in the Digital Age

Several technologists have ready advice for us as digital citizens:

Douglas Rushkoff's Ten Commandments for the Digital Age 

Jackie Dooley's Ten Commandments for Special Collections Librarians in the Digital Age 

Chris Anderson's Email Charter

Yet I do not find these fundamental to Grayling's questions or challenges.

Furthermore, I worry that many teachers and teacher-librarians shy away from the larger questions when too many identify themselves on Facebook and Twitter as "lovers of technology." To be consumed by one's tools is not a well-considered concept, but a passion that can seduce us. The new forms of information may prove to be new ways to know things, but we must still question how we know what we know digitally and whether such knowledge is enriching life either for ourselves or others. Knowledge is not wisdom. Each day we must weigh data carefully, asks ourselves what do we really know about them, how do we know about it so that we truly understand it, and how should we act wisely for the common good.

Try your hand at thinking with me about Grayling's version of the ten "commandments" (i.e., guidelines) from his The Good Book: A Humanist Bible:

1. love well
2. seek the good in all things
3. harm no others
4. think for yourself
5. take responsibility
6. respect nature
7. do your utmost
8. be informed
9. be kind
10. be courageous: at least, sincerely try

Then ask yourself and your students how these guidelines might apply to the technological world we may be increasingly taking for granted.