“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.”

The conventional view serves to KEEP us from the less painful job of thinking for ourselves rather than suffering greater pain by allowing others do the thinking for us. In truth, looking at living life as a painful experience is defeatist in nature and so not good for any individual but again there is the conventional view to take into consideration. What is it? Life's a bitch and then you die so grab all the gusto while you can? That's it, pretty much the present conventional view.

Not to worry, you don't need to think in our public schools. Just keep quiet and obey the teacher and never,ever disagree with anything the teacher says and you'll be fine.

Jim what business does a K thru 8 grade student have to disagree with the teacher. Maybe 9 thru 12 a little bit more business disagreeing. Why do you think teachers are evil and must be disagreed with? Do you know any teachers, you need to get out more I think and get real.

This reminds me of the quote by the Car Talk Guys, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who say things "unencumbered by the thought process". That's the beauty, and essence of religious dogma. It takes no thinking.

The quote is an irony. The author means: "to preclude us from enjoying the benefits of thinking." The quote also seems to be about conventional views in general, not only in schools. After doing some research on the author's economic and political views, I must say I do not share many of them, but he is right in this particular quote, which is an alert against conventional views. As far as teaching, one of the things I have noticed and appreciate in the U.S. schools is that kids are taught at an early age to distinguish between a fact and and an opinion, even here in Astoria. That should help them have their own opinion on conventional views down the road, as long as they are exposed to arguments and counter-arguments.

The conventional view is controlled left to right by political hacks, financiers of the economic system we now suffer under, the MSM and graduates of theocratic seminaries (government schools). A land of liberty is far too painful to think of so the helots, serfs and slaves protect their sensabilities under their masters' conventional propagated views.

I find it more painful to accept the conventional view ...

Here Here !! Mike and Archer