Much as I decry a student's rejection of evolutionary psychology's tenets, this situation calls to my mind the Pope's insistence, a few centuries ago, that Galileo renounce his own findings and subscribe to the time-honored belief that the world revolves around the earth. Of course there's a slight difference in this case: failure to renounce a belief in the present case results in one less letter of recommendation, and in the earlier case, the failure would have resulted in Galileo having to face the terror of an Inquisition. Galileo, of course, crumbled.
An idea - even one which seems as obvious as evolution - doesn't need to be coercive. If it's true, it's true. The world didn't revolve around the earth even with the Pope and his minions declaring it so. Social psychology knows all about normative decision-making vs. informational decision-making. Getting a fundamentalist to say that he believes in evolution so he can get a letter is hardly conducive to academic progress. Professor Evolution was out of line. It wasn't up to him to decide what makes a good graduate student in Psychology. If he felt it absolutely necessary, he could have stated his philosophical disagreement with the student in the body of the letter and then brought the body of the letter to the subject at hand: the student's academic ability. Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
