I like to think, to paraphrase Colbert, that "reality has a liberal bias." It's not my political beliefs that make students at liberal arts colleges become more liberal, it's their acquaintance with the data about what really works in the world, it's their understanding of other peoples and cultures, and it's their realization that what others do affects us, and thereby what we do affects others.
I think of liberalism as following naturally upon "knowledge." It's not because I'm a liberal that students become more liberal, it's because they get smarter while they're in college. m ------- Marc L Carter Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology Baker University College of Arts & Sciences ------- > -----Original Message----- > From: Dr. Bob Wildblood [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 6:56 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] Re: [tips] Professors' Liberalism Contagious? > Maybe Not - NYTimes.com > > Last week I did and informal, completely uncontrolled, > completely anonymous, and off-the-cuff survey of three > classes that I teach with a total N=108. I asked three questions. > > 1. Do you know what my political beliefs are? > 2. Do you care what my political beliefs are? > 3. Have may political beliefs caused you to change your mind > about the upcoming election? > > The completely unscientific results were. > > Yes No > 1. 40 68 (This in spite of the fact that I have been > wearing political buttons almost every day. > 2. 20 88 > 3. 0 108 > So, from the point of view of a person who lives in a > conservative swing state, it seems that my beliefs are nearly > completely irrelevant to my students. > > > Bob > > Bob Wildblood, PhD, HSPP > Lecturer in Psychology > Indiana University Kokomo > Kokomo, IN 46904-9003 > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one > which we preach, but do not practice, and another which we > practice, but seldom preach. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, > mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
