Readers,
Have you noticed how the media insists on ranking everything? Are they responding to a public interes or to their own? Or some combination.
Must we rank colleges, for example? There is a difference between transparency, and even “comparing” versus ranking and the difference is fundamental. The vey idea of “the best” involves risks, above all in a democracy where we are trying to honor, not rank, differences.
Ever since my daughter chided me on warm summer day for leaping into my pond and shouting out, “This is the best pond in the world,” I have been getting more cautious. I now shout it only when I’m alone.
Filed under: 2014 posts |
Deborah Meier on Education 
I had a friend who lived by a pond for awhile, and I disliked the pond for swimming because of all the weeds growing from the bottom, but the kids loved the pond to swim in. Somewhat ironic that as much as the U.S. stresses individuality it’s not very good at honoring diversity.
The purpose of ranking — by anyone but those who create a value — is to take the power of valuation and thus control out of the hands of those who create the value.
Gorgeous story. Best Deb Meier in the world!
Ranking is the mentality of the search engine. As far as I’ve found, they are all constructed on that basis, and it’s the fatal flaw in the new world order. A strictly rational, empirical, hierarchical system has no place for intuitive, obscure, flashes of brilliance with the power to change the world.