Chew and Spit

 In the first chapter of C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, he mentions an important point: unless teachers (or those in teaching roles) show students how to discern information on their own, rather than just teaching them to accept the teaching as true, then students would be susceptible to suspicious propaganda and naive to the lies of many different agendas in the future.

Ironically, though I was bombarded with many different biases and dogmas from my parents and other adults in my family, I remember being taught to "chew and spit". 

"Chew" means go ahead, put those teachings or sources in your mouth, and feel it out. "Spit" means make sure to get rid of ("spit out") anything that doesn't align with your worldview or values. 

This is an idea that is important for students to learn, as they are constantly having new information shoved down their throats. Knowing what to take as wholesome, and what to spit out, is a discernment that teachers should be teaching their students, rather than just telling them to accept the truth because it is in the textbook.

Comments

  1. Emmett BryantMarch 14, 2022 at 8:04 PM

    This couldn't be more true. I too was molded when I was younger to believe many different things under the guise of "searching for truth." But when I got older, when I actually started searching for what the truth is, the adults in my life didn't like it. They didn't like me searching for truth when I wasn't led to their version of it. So I've been chewing and spitting for years and understand exactly where you're coming from. -Emmett Bryant

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