When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Terror in Europe

For The French, Why It's Different This Time

Paris has been brutally attacked by Islamist terrorists two times in the past 10 months. Will Friday's attack wind up changing the way the French live their lives?

Mourners near Paris' Bataclan concert venue on Nov. 15
Mourners near Paris' Bataclan concert venue on Nov. 15
Cynthia Martens

PARIS — France, land of pens. At least, it seemed that way when I came back home from my first day of French elementary school and presented my parents with a very precise list of the supplies I was expected to have each day in class. One stylo plume (fountain pen), with blue (and only blue!) ink cartridges. Four ballpoint pens: one red, one green, one black, and one blue — certainly not one of those clicking multi-color pens.

So France loves pens. This of course is a country where the written word (not to mention, colorful bande dessinée) is treasured, as the most direct and diffused forms of freedom of expression. When terrorists attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices in January, it was an assault on individual cartoonists, but also on cherished national beliefs that are passed on from the first day of school.

Still, as traumatizing as that attack was, it felt more remote to the average citizen than the horrific events of Friday, when armed gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least 129 people who were sitting at cafés, listening to a concert and watching a football match between France and Germany at the Stade de France.

"Well," people could console themselves after January's tragic events. "I'm not drawing offensive cartoons, I don't shop at a kosher supermarket. It couldn't happen to me." It didn't feel all that convincing, but it was enough to help regain a sense of normalcy rather quickly.

But as news of Friday's attacks unfolded, and friends and relatives began frantically calling and texting one another, people in Paris (and across France) quickly realized that this time around, the stakes were even higher than in January. When anyone could have been a victim, everyone feels like one. That realization of your own vulnerability is a quietly devastating sensation.

The testimony of those who survived offered the most immediate, and chilling, proof of the nature of these attacks. "There were at least five dead people around me, others in the street, blood everywhere," Mathieu, 35, told Agence France Presse after surviving the shooting in front of a pizzeria in rue de la Fontaine au Roi. "I was very lucky."

Thomas, a young man who escaped unharmed from the Bataclan concert venue, told the French Metro newspaper: "You think this only happens to other people."

Marching in solidarity for the targets chosen 10 months ago was a way to stand up for the ideals of the French Republic. In the cross hairs this time were simply French people, in an operation to kill as many of them as possible.

In a series of cartoons published on his Instagram account, a friend and colleague of some of the Charlie Hebdo victims, Joann Sfar celebrated the famous French joie de vivre and illustrated the Parisian city motto, fluctuat nec mergitur, Latin for: "it is tossed by the waves but does not sink." (The Independenthas translated the series into English). Sfar declared that terrorists' cult of death is bound to be defeated by the French faith in the salvation of joy, music, drunkeness and kissing for the whole world to see.

"Instead of dividing us, you have reminded us how precious this all is, our way of life"

France is a country that has staunchly defended its homegrown cinema, while lining up for Hollywood blockbusters. It's admired worldwide for its devotion to culture and the arts; for its wine and cheese; for its sense of style. But also for its never-above-bawdy jokes and slapstick humor. France is imperfect, and full of contradictions: eager to defend its identity and yet able to blend in a medley of international influences, creating a national spirit that is both unique and lasting.

The victims in Friday's attacks were a cross-section of the capital: men and women, French and foreign, of various ages and religious leanings. One of them was Asta Diakite, cousin of Lassana Diarra, a French soccer player of Malian origins. The grieving athlete posted a tribute to her on his Twitter account, which spoke for all the good people of France.

"In this climate of terror, it is important for all of us, as representatives of our country and its diversity, to speak up and stay united in the face of a horror that knows no color, no religion," he wrote.

I hope that France will continue to fight for both its diversity and its singular way of life, stylo plume and all.

*Cynthia Martens is an American journalist who recently moved back to Paris, where she lived many years as a child.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Future

AI Is Good For Education — And Bad For Teachers Who Teach Like Machines

Despite fears of AI upending the education and the teaching profession, artificial education will be an extremely valuable tool to free up teachers from rote exercises to focus on the uniquely humanistic part of learning.

Journalism teacher and his students in University of Barcelona.

Journalism students at the Blanquerna University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

© Sergi Reboredo via ZUMA press
Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ - Early in 2023, Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates included teaching among the professions most threatened by Artificial Intelligence (AI), arguing that a robot could, in principle, instruct as well as any school-teacher. While Gates is an undoubted expert in his field, one wonders how much he knows about teaching.

As an avowed believer in using technology to improve student results, Gates has argued for teachers to use more tech in classrooms, and to cut class sizes. But schools and countries that have followed his advice, pumping money into technology at school, or students who completed secondary schooling with the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have not attained the superlative results expected of the Gates recipe.

Thankfully, he had enough sense to add some nuance to his views, instead suggesting changes to teacher training that he believes could improve school results.

I agree with his view that AI can be a big and positive contributor to schooling. Certainly, technological changes prompt unease and today, something tremendous must be afoot if a leading AI developer, Geoffrey Hinton, has warned of its threat to people and society.

But this isn't the first innovation to upset people. Over 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Socrates wondered, in the Platonic dialogue Phaedrus, whether reading and writing wouldn't curb people's ability to reflect and remember. Writing might lead them to despise memory, he observed. In the 18th and 19th centuries, English craftsmen feared the machines of the Industrial Revolution would destroy their professions, producing lesser-quality items faster, and cheaper.

Their fears were not entirely unfounded, but it did not happen quite as they predicted. Many jobs disappeared, but others emerged and the majority of jobs evolved. Machines caused a fundamental restructuring of labor at the time, and today, AI will likely do the same with the modern workplace.

Many predicted that television, computers and online teaching would replace teachers, which has yet to happen. In recent decades, teachers have banned students from using calculators to do sums, insisting on teaching arithmetic the old way. It is the same dry and mechanical approach to teaching which now wants to keep AI out of the classroom.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest