Friday, November 25, 2005

Freed from Reality

The L.A. Times takes on the various ongoing attacks on academic integrity, which (they don't note) actually come from the right (Students shouldn't have to learn about evolution or Marx!) and the left (Professors shouldn't study the biological aspects of race or gender!). We had a class last year that about half of the students got up and walked out of. Why? Well, the professor put forth the radical idea that there was homosexuality in ancient Greece. Shocking, eh? A friend of mine was actually the subject of a minor cross-country smear campaign. Why? Well, someone decided that she hadn't spent enough time on the Holocaust in her World Civ class, and so a group in California got involved.

It's strange how truth and learning are no longer seen as innate goods, but as a matter of consumer choice. The ongoing idea seems to be that, if you pay enough in tuition, you should be able to choose the reality that is presented to you. How postmodern!

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