I am reading a book by Walter Gratzer (2000) called "The Undergrowth of
Science: Delusion, Self-deception and Human Frailty" (Oxford University
Press). In a chapter on Lysenko and Soviet "science" of the Stalin era,
Gratzer gave an example of one of the effects of the promotion of
pseudoscience (as well as of relativistic ideas that sound vaguely
"postmodern," but which were promoted in the Soviet Union over 50 years
ago) by those who should have known better:
"The effect of such vapourings [i.e., the pseudoscientific nonsense
spouted by Lysenko and others] on teaching and research in the
biological sciences was catastrophic. Here are two examples of the level
to which scholarly discourse had sunk in the universities.... A member
of the Lenin Agricultural Academy, M. I. Khadzinov, who taught at the
Plant Breeding Institute in Leningrad, was summoned before the local
party committee and interrogated thus:
'Is Shundenko [a student at the Institute] under your supervision?'
'Yes.'
'Why hasn't he presented his thesis yet?'
'Shundenko is illiterate, he doesn't want to study and he is quite
incapable of writing a thesis.'
'But it's your business to see that he gets his degree, If you haven't
been able to teach him, you must write the thesis yourself.'
Khadzinov dictated the thesis to his recalcitrant student, who was duly
awareded his doctoral degree and appointed academic deputy to the
director of the institute." (p. 188)
A nightmare vision of one possible future for higher education in the
United States? Perhaps I'm just feeling pessimistic, today.
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
Karl Popper
"Nothing is more dangerous than active ignorance"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Listowner: Psychologists Educating Students to Think Skeptically (PESTS)
http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sbscience/pests/index.html
