Thread: Indoctrination
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Old 07-05-2007   #3 (permalink)
Charbucks
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Onterrible, Canada
Posts: 557
Default Re: Indoctrination

The Oxford English Dictionary gives me these definitions for "indoctrinate":
Quote:
Originally Posted by OED
1. a. trans. To imbue with learning, to teach.

b. To instruct in a subject, principle, etc.

c. To imbue with a doctrine, idea, or opinion. spec. To imbue with Communist ideas, etc. (cf. INDOCTRINATION).

d. To bring into a knowledge of something.

2. To teach, inculcate (a subject, etc.). rare.
Interesting that the communist thing is in there. Basically, the denotation of indoctrination is innocuous, but it seems as though the OED recognizes that it has negative connotations. To go by a strict dictionary definition, however, I don't think we can have education without indoctrination. Also, I don't think it implies assumptions.
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