Some people have been subtly “tricked” into an educational experience. The TV show LOST, for instance, has subtly introduced some viewers into science fiction who thought they hated it. Some still do, but some have had their horizons broadened, and that is what education is all about. Then there are the more obvious references to philosophers and their ideas, which many have gone and explored. Much like the Matrix films, LOST has taken philosophy and packaged it for an audience that probably assumed they had no interest in philosophy.
I wonder whether educators should take more of this sort of “Sesame Street approach”. I certainly try to make learning fun, and think students appreciate it. But I do wonder whether at least some people learn more through a TV show that ropes them in gently in this way, precisely because they never think of it as educational.
Oops, have I just potentially ruined LOST for some people?
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