Michael Perelman wrote,
> Regarding Martin's question about the nature of University employment.
> John Stuart Mill: "The proper function of an University (is) not ... to
> teach the knowledge required to fit men for some special mode of gaining
> their livelihood. . .
I think it might be useful to think of the university today as a
"pageant", not unlike one of those "colonial Williamsburg" re-enactments
for the tourists. The success of the performance is not necessarily
related to its verisimilitude -- although verisimilitude may well be one
of the criteria at some of the better quality venues. The performers
themselves may be professional actors or they may be amateur history buffs
who make a hobby of dressing up in period costume.
Ultimately, the success of the performance relies on its ability to
attract tourists willing to pay the price of admission. Because the
pageant has to compete with other entertainment options, it may have to
adapt the production values and special effects popular in them, even if
they are inappropriate to the events purportedly being re-enacted. The
specific production values and special effects aimed for by the university
today are more readily recognized if we also think of "business" today as
more of an entertainment spectacle than a practical undertaking.
The university today differs from the business enterprise in more or less
the same way that colonial Williamsburg differs from Disneyland.
Tom Walker
Sandwichman and Deconsultant
Bowen Island
(604) 947-2213
