This question of grades being coercive, and of politics being inherent in teaching, applies not only to writing, but to all fields. Mathematics, science, economics, history, religion, are all just as deeply and necessarily political. To believe they’re not–to believe, for example, that science (or mathematics, economics, history, religion, and so forth: choose your poison) describes the world as it is, rather than acting as a filter that removes all information that does not fit the model and colors the information that remains–is in itself to take a position, one that is all the more powerful and dangerous because it is invisible to the one who holds it. Derrick Jensen
About This Quote

This quote, by philosopher Paul Feyerabend, is about the way the world is viewed differently depending on where you are. From his perspective, to think that science or history can be seen as a thing in itself, rather than just a way of looking at the world, is deeply dangerous. It removes all information that does not fit the model and colors all information that does. This idea that different people have different viewpoints is not something that should be ignored. For instance, this quote would not have been so powerful if Feyerabend had not been pointing out how important it is for everyone to consider what other people are thinking.

Source: Walking On Water: Reading, Writing, And Revolution

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