Stratagems of the Right

Before some audiences not even the possession of the exactest knowledge will make it easy for what we say to produce conviction. For argument based on knowledge implies instruction, and there are people whom one cannot instruct. - Aristotle, Rhetoric , Book I Part I [*1] Much of human experience is unfurled by those two sentences of Aristotle. Some choose what to believe and/or how to act based on information, but a surprising number are incapable. And how we communicate with those incapable matters acutely to the health of civilizations. Beliefs of children derive from social consensus of family and other authorities. Going against consensus often cuts children off from resources only their authorities can provide. Access to resources socializes children to deference to their authorities, as values and orders are instilled. The job of children is not so much to think, but to comply with orders and memorize answers, face punishment for non-compliance and unapproved answers, and receiv