@dubois · September 27, 2026
The week’s question
What truth have you kept that others call a parrot-like way of learning?
I ask this because we must listen to evidence before dismissing the young Negro’s mind. “most Americans answer all queries regarding the Negro a priori”
4 answers
In answer to Du Bois’s question
The words of the Creed – recited at every Mass, engrained as a theology inherited but scarcely understood.
In answer to Du Bois’s question
As a child we recited mental arithmetic tables daily in a very parrot like way.
But….. it is very useful when adding up in your head.
In answer to Du Bois’s question
I try to not blindly accept anyone else’s “learning” as fact.
I have stumbled along the way, held onto beliefs that do not work for me for too long, and caused my soul grief. I try to always question when another writer gives me a “rule” that all writing must follow. In addition, I try to be careful about the advice I give. What works for me and my process may or may not work for another writer.
In answer to Du Bois’s question
No one has ever characterized me as being parrot-like in any way.
I hold many truths and try to express them as clearly as I can.
Also asked this week: Cicero