Sorry if I gave the impression of disrespecting universities. I'm a big fan, actually. I've never been a teacher, no. But I've faced obstructionists in literally _every_ domain in which I've worked. So, I'm familiar with the feeling of simply trying to get some work done and having a small contingent of jerks harp on _apparent_ tangents.
Unlike hucksters like Haidt, however, my preferred route is more Socratic. Assume those obstructionists may not be malicious, may either be merely stupid or be hiding a productive point buried deep inside their "obstructionism". That method slows down my work dramatically ... often to the extent that I look completely unproductive. At one job, whether an achievement or a failure, I don't know, I managed to completely re-route a spittle-spewing gray beard who had alienated literally everyone in the company. After about 4-6 months of such, he finally felt listened to and came back aboard as a productive member. It wouldn't have been worth the effort (and my wasted time) had he not held core IP inside his head. As Roger points out, Haidt seems to have zero interest in doing that sort of work. That'd be OK if he'd just plug along on some other productive route, without the constant whining and false accusation. On 12/05/2016 07:16 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:
All I can say in defense of Universities, Glen, is that it's hard as hell. You're trying to foster a discussion a class that gets to the bottom of some important issue, and some student keeps trying to veto the discussion on the grounds that no such discussion should be allowed to happen. I don't teach, anymore, but I was on an RG forum the other day where a guy kept ranting on the one hand about the ills of political correctness AND paradoxically insisting that a Marxist theory of science should not get any hearing on the forum because Stalin had killed 30 million people. Now, on a forum, on can just skip the post; but in a classroom, that one person can simply destroy a semester of discussion. I am also afflicted by my Deweyan voice, which keeps insisting that no progress can be made to the truth without social justice at least amongst the discussants -- equal access to the floor, no power dictating who can speak and who not, full attention to all relevant information, etc. etc. I can't remember, Glen, if you are now or have ever been a teacher. But before you quickly condemn the Haidt article, walk in a professor's shoes for a few days. It's ROUGH! Particularly if you have any idealism about either social justice or the truth.
-- ☣ glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
