Mad Minerva

Inflicting Opinions, Plus Dead German Philosophers for Kerry?

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posted Thursday, 30 September 2004

Ah, gentle reader, you've all heard me rant about how much I hate having other people's opinions inflicted on me.

Up here, folks are well nigh violent about it, and can be really aggressive. I call the whole lot "ear poison," and I think constant harping on political opinions dulls the senses. When every single thing goes back to the same basic premise ("It's Bush's Fault!"), it kind of precludes discussion.

But apparently I'm just some kind of anomaly. When it comes to having a pile of unsolicited opinions dumped on you, it seems that some people actually like it. Of course, this opinion was expressed by a YALIE. The little op-ed ends with these rather telling words:

There is no burden on students to take this extra action and explore the opinions offered by professors, whether related to the class or not. However, we are students at an incredible University whose professors offer insight and opinion that can add to our understanding and broaden our knowledge. If my professor said Hegel and Kant would probably vote for Kerry, I would want to know why, especially if it helps me better understand Hegel or Kant.

(Can I say, this pie-eyed vision has "overawed undergrad" written large all over it.) 

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Questions, comments, snide remarks?