Sorry, but this is how education works. You can't say "believe what I tell you, Oh untested mind, because I am an expert who knows all while this other idiot is full of crap". You have to explain why that idiot's theories are crap. We don't have a big book on the shelf that says "Truth" on the spine. Actually, that's not true; we have thousands of them. That's why the students are here to learn how to think, not just to learn "facts". Here is one simple observation I have made. There are large groups of people on this planet on the order of billions who cannot agree on the most basic "facts" of human existence. If I tried to simply indoctrinate students with my perspective on the "truth" I would get angry phones calls from parents asking why I am teaching their kids this "crap".
This particular example is a bit extreme but that makes it even more important to say "this is why he is wrong" rather than to say "we're going to fire this guy becuase we don't like what he says". If I were 19, I know what I would think about the latter case. >>> keith_w <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 7/26/2006 11:06:42 AM >>> Steve Desjardins wrote: > Hey folks. > > Learning comes in many different forms. > > Of course you let this idiot teach. Things like this thrive in dark > corners (even on the internet) where they can go unchallenged. In this > case this theory is being aired in a public forum where it can be > challenged. Most people don't read the journals where this guy > publishes. Besides, students MUST be exposed to this kind thing. Life > doesn't come in balanced packages. It's typically one side expressing > their viewpoint supported by convenient facts and convenient omissions. When I pay for my "child" to get an education, I do NOT wish that so-caalled education to consist of piling bushels of input on him, so he can sort them out with his unformed and untested mind. Kids of University age are pretty much incapable of assessing whether what a professor is trying to teach them is precious or fool's gold. They don't know enough... If they are going to be expected to figure it out for themselves by trial and error, double the time in University to 8 years. I expect, no demand, that any education I pay for is valid and of use, not some pap that must be discarded later because not only isn't it true, but it runs against logic and science. Junk... I want that decision made ahead of time, so as to maximize the 4 years he has to spend. Even one class that's junk science (or junk anything) is one too many. By the time the student gains enough knowledge on his own to ferret out who's a charlatan, he's wasted a lot of precious time. > There are many "experts" in the world that can make any position sound > well defended and reasonable and have millions believe them. Just look > at the middle east. > > Somebody has to publically debunk this guy in a way that the students > can learn from. If no one can do it or if no one simply does do it, > well, that's where new governments and religions come from. And we sure need more of those, don't we... > Steven Desjardins keith whaley -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
