. . . >>>>> [ym -(2apr99)] I ought to have predicted >>>>> that any reference to Sokal would set the >>>>> old wheel in the hamster cage whirling... >>>>> Please delete the reference to "local Sokal" >>>>> from my recent post and substitute: "April >>>>> Fools Day LeVay" >>>> [i] Did you actually have hamsters? I did. >>> [ym] My Hamster died, unfortunately :( >> [i] What did any of this have to do with >> SigF and StarTrek? > [ym] My essay was actually about > Jung --but I cleverly wove the StarTrek > episode into the argument... . . . [i] Perhaps some are naturally repelled by unselfconscious idiocy, such as the below WAS rife with. . . . > -----Original Message----- > From: Stephen Miles Sacks, Ph.D. > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: 26/aug/00 > Subject: Evolution and Cognitive Dissonance > > Some of you may have observed that after > teaching evolution and testing students' > knowledge of it, some of the A and B students > comment that although they [vaguely] understand > [what you'd have to be a very sharp historian to > make any sense out of], they nevertheless do not > believe it. > > One explanation is, since the students > demonstrated they learned the concepts, > cognitive dissonance occurred. The students > reject 'evolution' as a way of reducing the > dissonance as opposed to embracing [cell biology, > chemistry, immunology, embryology, anatomy, > psychiatry, geology, & civilization] to reduce > the dissonance. > > Another explanation is, students reject > attempts to get them to personally accommodate > [BULLSHIT] no matter how well they [vaguely] > understand the concepts. > > Another explanation is the students are > bright and they have attempted to > intellectually falsify the thesis, and they > wind up rejecting it because, [like their > teachers, they are fascile rather than > fully selfconscious]. > > Just how far do you think teaching should > go to encourage personal accommodation and > adaptation to [higher learning]. > --- <rest snipped>---