The Conundrum of Education in the Age of Distraction

This is about the lack of a theory of knowledge today that has led to multiple unsupported belief systems. The focus is on epistemology which as a concept dates to Plato, and is now understood as philosophical psychology or philosophy of mind, creating confusion. The presentation looks into the process or lack thereof for creating “justified belief” at a time when finding the truth isn’t easy given the flood of distracting, irrelevant, ambivalent, relativistic information, and confirmation bias today. And illiteracy. To teach meaningful and relevant ways of knowing and engage students we meet them where they are in their journey in the IDS 101 Cornerstone Seminar at Charter Oak State college and use the right strategies to teach research and inspire insight. Motivation starts with some beliefs and links to related knowledge and the process continues, ideally, as beliefs evolve.