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Speech Nazis--The Coddling of America's Mind

calamity

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Unbelievable!

https://www.thefire.org/professor-i...viewpoints-the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/

The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) appears to have investigated two professors for asking students to simply consider all sides of the debate over today’s most controversial political and social issues. The investigations were prompted by student complaints made through UNC’s “Bias Response” system, which encourages students to file online reports of any “offensive classroom environment” to administrators, who may then intervene with the theoretically offending faculty.

...some of the responses suggest administrators will do more than facilitate conversations among students or faculty. Rather, they’re directing professors not to discuss subjects or present views that might offend students.

FIRE, like Heat Street, is using public records requests to gather information about how bias response teams operate at the more than 120 public institutions that currently maintain them. While some are forthcoming with their records, others—like the University of Oregon—are not.


So much for stimulating conversation and exploring ideas at, you know, universities which are meant for stimulating conversation and exploring ideas. PC madness.
 
Unbelievable!

https://www.thefire.org/professor-i...viewpoints-the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/

So much for stimulating conversation and exploring ideas at, you know, universities which are meant for stimulating conversation and exploring ideas. PC madness.

I am opposed to P.C. Nazism with a caveat. What types of courses were involved in these discussions?

If the courses were in subject areas like math, chemistry, engineering, art, design, etc.? Then it would be inappropriate for an instructor to try to bring up such topics. They have no application to what the course is meant to teach, and teachers who bring such subjects up have a personal agenda they are trying to push.

If the classes were in Social Science areas dealing with politics, history, race relations, marriage and family, etc., then such topics may very well be worthy of discussion and no claims of "personal offense" should apply. If you don't like it? Drop the damn course.
 
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Colleges have ceased to be places of learning and now places of shaping. Why do you think hard lefties are so insistent on FREE College?

I get a kick out of all of this stuff. I guess you could say that I saw it coming.

I went to an engineering college within a major University during the mid-80's. And, my experience of college was far different than that of my friends there who went to the main campus. Far different.

My Friday nights and Saturdays were spent studying, often until 3 or 4 AM. They closed down bars and then woke up to drink some more. My idea of free time was to play basketball every afternoon from 3-6. Their idea of it was to watch All My Children and General Hospital while smoking copious amounts of herb. I suspect half of them were never sober. No wonder it was so easy to brainwash them. :)
 
I am opposed to P.C. Nazism with a caveat. What types of courses were involved in these discussions?

If the courses were in subject areas like math, chemistry, engineering, art, design, etc.? Then it would be inappropriate for an instructor to try to bring up such topics. They have no application to what the course is meant to teach, and teachers who bring such subjects up have a personal agenda they are trying to push.
Never in all my engineering courses did an instructor ever, not once, bring up any issue other than something relating to engineering, math or science. So, I suspect with confidence that this is not a case of the physics professor going off on a rant about trans people or gays.

If the classes were in Social Science areas dealing with politics, history, race relations, marriage and family, etc., then such topics may very well be worthy of discussion and no claims of "personal offense" should apply. If you don't like it? Drop the damn course.
Probably philosophy or humanities related course where such conversations were more the norm back in the good old days when talking about things did not trigger a micro-aggression accusation. :)
 
I have always been of the opinion that universities are places where your beliefs are challenged and put to the test. To me that is even more important than the actual facts you learn. Most of us grow up believing what our parents believe and perhaps the peers we go to high school with. College is supposed to break you out of that bubble and expose you to the world at large, and that includes the various beliefs and ideas out there. Frankly, you SHOULD get offended in college. If you make it through your education without getting offended then it means you were probably educated in an echo chamber.

One of the most intellectually stimulating courses I took in college was a military history class. We had everyone from hippy pacifists to Marines taking the class. And the professor encouraged us to debate the merits of various past, and more current, conflicts. We got into some very heated discussions in that class. I am sure every student in there was offended on multiple occasions. It was one of the best college courses I ever took BECAUSE of all the various viewpoints thrown back and forth.

No, you shouldn't attack people in class. But their beliefs and opinions? Challenging those should be encouraged. How do you know your beliefs are worth having if they have never been put to the test?
 
I have always been of the opinion that universities are places where your beliefs are challenged and put to the test. To me that is even more important than the actual facts you learn. Most of us grow up believing what our parents believe and perhaps the peers we go to high school with. College is supposed to break you out of that bubble and expose you to the world at large, and that includes the various beliefs and ideas out there. Frankly, you SHOULD get offended in college. If you make it through your education without getting offended then it means you were probably educated in an echo chamber.

One of the most intellectually stimulating courses I took in college was a military history class. We had everyone from hippy pacifists to Marines taking the class. And the professor encouraged us to debate the merits of various past, and more current, conflicts. We got into some very heated discussions in that class. I am sure every student in there was offended on multiple occasions. It was one of the best college courses I ever took BECAUSE of all the various viewpoints thrown back and forth.

No, you shouldn't attack people in class. But their beliefs and opinions? Challenging those should be encouraged. How do you know your beliefs are worth having if they have never been put to the test?

IMo, the real world is the exact opposite of life with mom and dad or getting slapped on the back by our high school peers. My god. The real world is a cold, hard place where no one cares one iota what you think unless it makes them money. So, colleges basically babying young adults like mommy and daddy did through childhood, pandering to their stupid whims, giving credence to their silly ideas and promoting their over-hyped beliefs of self-worth does them a huge disservice.

Many will learn this cold, hard fact when they get their first job adding whipped cream to coffee for minimum wages. A few more will begin to catch on after getting fired from the coffee shop for showing up late or not at all. A handful may even come to realize that they were cheated by those bleeding heart professors who kissed their pampered asses. Most will not, however, but they can always blame capitalism and vote for Bernie...which, as we see didn't turn out as well as planned either.
 
I get a kick out of all of this stuff. I guess you could say that I saw it coming.

I went to an engineering college within a major University during the mid-80's. And, my experience of college was far different than that of my friends there who went to the main campus. Far different.

My Friday nights and Saturdays were spent studying, often until 3 or 4 AM. They closed down bars and then woke up to drink some more. My idea of free time was to play basketball every afternoon from 3-6. Their idea of it was to watch All My Children and General Hospital while smoking copious amounts of herb. I suspect half of them were never sober. No wonder it was so easy to brainwash them. :)

What happened to your friends?
 
What happened to your friends?

Some actually graduated and one or two are doing exceptionally well. The guy on top founded/runs an import/export company for sporting goods. He lives in Jupitor, Fla. Last I checked his company had $20M per year in revenue.
 
Colleges have ceased to be places of learning and now places of shaping. Why do you think hard lefties are so insistent on FREE College?

The 'vast national conspiracy' angle is so easy and comforting to believe, is it not?

But as soon as you bother to ask the most obvious questions - "what's in it for the universities? what do they gain here?" - the answer, or at least a big part of the answer, seems equally obvious. They don't want to lose customers by offending them.

Profit-driven education subject to consumer demands and market forces? I wouldn't say it can't work, though arguably a public alternative should also be available at cost price. However blindly denying the possible (inevitable?) problems a consumer-driven system will face and instead concocting some extravagent conspiracy theory to blame all the world's ills on political opponents is a rather special view, I reckon.
 
The motivation is simple; we need to raise more democrats. TPTB have decided that the Democrat party will surrender more easily, thus we need more democrats to make it a sure bet.

It's not rocket science, ever met a liberal that was able to discuss any issue without the words 'racism' 'sexism' 'bigot' 'we deserve'? Universities have no choice; go against the tide and lose Obama's handouts.
 
The 'vast national conspiracy' angle is so easy and comforting to believe, is it not?

But as soon as you bother to ask the most obvious questions - "what's in it for the universities? what do they gain here?" - the answer, or at least a big part of the answer, seems equally obvious. They don't want to lose customers by offending them.

Profit-driven education subject to consumer demands and market forces? I wouldn't say it can't work, though arguably a public alternative should also be available at cost price. However blindly denying the possible (inevitable?) problems a consumer-driven system will face and instead concocting some extravagent conspiracy theory to blame all the world's ills on political opponents is a rather special view, I reckon.

Yes, because those fragile customers, if they hear things mean, will leave for the safe place...


It's not a vast extravagant CT, it's group think, different animal, have a nice day
 
The more things change the more they stay the same. conservatives have been attacking academia in higher education for over 100 years.
 
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