FYI: An 1890 Oxford entrance exam question read: “Give some account of the life of Mary, the mother of our Lord.”
William Dawson, in his book The Quest of the Simple Life, writes what happened next:
One bright youth, after a feeble sentence or two in which the name of Mary was at least included, went on to say, ‘At this point it may not be out of place to give a list of the kings of Israel.’
Here was something he did know, and it was something not worth knowing.
I found that my boys had been educated much the same … with history; they could recite dates and facts, but they had no perception of principles.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/different-kinds-of-information/
