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Proyecto Visión 21

How to detect pseudo-mistakes with no need to apologize

Francisco Miraval

I recently received an email from one of my students telling me there was a mistake in the Spanish textbook we use for our class. According to the student, the authors of the book forgot sometimes to include the personal pronoun before the verb. For example, he said, the book said “amamos” instead of “nosotros amamos” (“We love.”)

I was tempted to answer using an expression I once heard in my native Argentina: “I am not disturbed by your ignorance, but by the fact you don’t hide it.”

Obviously, my answer was quite different. I explained to the student that in Spanish, unlike what happens in English, the ending of the verb reveals the person (first, second, or third) and the number (singular or plural). Therefore, the use of the personal pronoun is optional, except for reasons of style, emphasis, or to avoid ambiguity.

Another student wrote to me and told me there was a mistake in the syllabus for the philosophy class. The student said there were four textbooks listed on the syllabus, instead of only one, and he wanted to know which one was the “only” book he needed to buy.

Yet another student sent me an email, saying I made a mistake because I asked the class to read a certain book and I forgot to mention which chapters they should read. My answer was a short one, “All of them.”

In my opinion, those three situations (and many more) of detecting pseudo-mistakes are symptoms of two sad realities: the prevalent and arrogant narcissistic attitude preventing true learning, and the fragmentation of communication that reduces any dialogue to just a few words or a few lines.

The arrogance of narcissism leads us to believe others are making mistakes, not us. It is like that old joke when a driver sees all other cars coming in his direction and he asks himself why there are so many drivers going in the wrong direction, without considering he is the one driving in the wrong direction.

The fragmentation of communications is evident in the multiplication of communication “platforms,” none of which, by the way, promotes deeper thoughts or the critical analysis of what one sees or hears.

But if assuming that others make mistakes without even acknowledging our own mistakes is a symptom of the lack of critical thinking skills (which in turns create narcissism and communication fragmentation), what is creating the lack of critical thinking skills?

Part of the answer can be found on two recent studies, one published by the Gates Foundation and the other one by the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Those reports say teachers know how to change students’ behavior, but they do not teach how to solve problems, how to connect the past with the present, or how to reason.

In other words, critical thinking is not being taught. Therefore, we cannot detect our own mistakes. Except, of course, all the mistakes in this column, which are only ours and always open to dialogue.

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