從世界得來的教育分兩大類:
「社會教育」和「歷史政治教育」。
「社會教育」屬於當下,是現實的教育。
The moment you enter society,
you draw the key from your heart
and put it in your pocket.
Those who fail to do so are fools.
( Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774 )
社會好,社會教育就好;社會有病,社會教育就有病。
追求成功者,必修埋堆學,辦公室政治,度橋學。
追求成就者,必修哲學,自我批判,認識自己。
不論是培養追求成功還是追求成就的學生,
似乎這些「實用的課程」暫時我們中學裡都還沒有!
「歷史政治教育」屬於過去,是認識人性的範疇,
是以古為鏡、鑑古知今的教育:
What man is, only his history tells.
( Wilhelm Dilthey )
A government is an institution that holds a
monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.
( Max Weber )
Political history is far too criminal and
pathological to be a fit subject of study
for the young. Children should acquire
their heroes and villains from fiction.
( W. H. Auden, A Certain World, 1971 )
The human record is virtually universally
one of cruelty barely overcome and restrained
by civilization. Imperialism and slavery are
no white male monopoly but are everywhere,
from Egypt, Assyria, and Persia to India,
China, and Japan.
( Camille Paglia )
In existing criminology there are concepts:
a criminal man, a criminal profession,
a criminal society, a criminal sect, and a
criminal tribe; but there is no concept of
a criminal state, or a criminal government, or
criminal legislation. Consequently, the biggest
crimes actually escape being called crimes.
( Peter Dimianovich Ouspensky, A New Model of the Universe )
歷史之中,固然可以提供智慧,
可以反映出人性中的美善,
但亦反映出人性中的醜惡、虛偽、愚昧,
紀錄了人類自己做成的悲劇和災難。
I guess if people couldn’t profit from war
I don’t think there would be war.
( Lily Tomlin )
But there are too many people that make
so much money at the cost of lives of
other humans and for no reason but to
make the money.
( Lily Tomlin )
借用特區貿發局的名句來描述:
歷史政治教育絕對「意識不良」及「品味低俗」,
殘酷、血腥、恐怖兼而有之,
一定「唔能夠達到形象健康、老少咸宜既宗旨」,
所以禁止這類書籍在每年書展場內辦簽名會。
貿發局是否應該聲明,凡有關戰爭及屠殺的書籍,
例如南京大屠殺、越南戰爭等,
如果內裡有日軍殺中國人及向婦女施暴照片,
絕對會對年輕人產生不良影響,好唔健康,
一定要有密封包裝和警告字句,以及不得向未成年人士售賣。
歷史,尤其是附有真實圖片的歷史,
對青少年一代而言簡直是恐怖。
欺騙孩子們以為世界充滿善良和純真,
避免孩子們接觸「社會教育」和「歷史政治教育」,
是否屬於過度保護?
是否應該隱瞞及美化歷史?
是否應該編寫虛假的歷史書?
欺騙孩子是改變不了世界的。
在安全、讚許、公正、誠實中長大的這些孩子,
也許到最後,大部份都成為駝鳥、小部份則神經失常、
極小部份則成為了天才:
I am convinced that,
except in a few extraordinary cases,
one form or another of an unhappy childhood
is essential to the formation of exceptional gifts.
( Thornton Wilder )
也許可以這樣說:
上智之人需要逆境的鍛煉,以承接「天將降大任」的後運;
亦只有上智之人才能夠在惡劣環境之中脫穎而出;
而大部份人的性格和心智,則深受環境和際遇的影響。
參考:《造命》(六)
現代人喜歡提出保護環境,維護美好的大自然;
我們稱之為綠色哲學。
Dr. Glen Barry
Ecology Is the Meaning of Life
http://www.ecoearth.info/blog/2013/10/essay_ecology_is_the_meaning_o.asp
人亦是大自然界的一部份,而人類之中不乏心靈美好的人,
社會是否應該保護這些瀕臨貶值的邊緣人?
如何保護?
抑或讓全球化趨向將這些邊緣人劃分為下等人?
當「欺瞞」和「高層次的虛偽」成為環球聰明人
私下及幕後的最高道德追求時,
我們是否同意有「綠色的心靈」?
我們應否期望孩子們有「綠色的心靈」?
This is where we are at right now,
as a whole. No one is left out of the loop.
We are experiencing a reality based on
a thin veneer of lies and illusions. A world
where greed is our God and wisdom is sin,
where division is key and unity is fantasy,
where the ego-driven cleverness of the mind
is praised,
rather than the intelligence of the heart.
( Bill Hicks )
一個重視綠色心靈的校園,
應該追求真理,尊重事實,鼓勵思考,
培育「懷疑和批判的精神」,批判迷信和信念,
培育「愛、智慧和勇氣」,拒絕虛偽,
建設信仰,讓善良和純真踏足在堅固的岩石之上!
我們不希望隨著歲月的增長,
善良和純真自我感覺良好,變成了無知,
並且受到現實的摧殘。
除了要保護孩子們「綠色的心靈」之外,
還有一個值得思考的課題是:
我們是否應該扶助社會上那些智慧較低、運氣較差、但心地善良的人,
避免出現「人善、人欺、社會欺、天也欺」的現象?
還是讓這些人走到絕境之後自殺算了?
也許讀者們開始明白,
為甚麼很多人口裡將蘇格拉底捧上天,
然後讓他從雅典的天空上跌下來,跌死他?
因為我們一向喜歡口號和幻想多於面對事實。
My plainness of speech makes them hate me,
and what is their hatred but a proof
that I am speaking the truth?
( Socrates )
The best people possess a feeling for beauty,
the courage to take risks,
the discipline to tell the truth,
the capacity for sacrifice.
Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable;
they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed.
( Ernest Hemingway )