[Teaching_Composition] Re: Teaching_Composition digest, Vol 1 #1097 - 1 msg

[Charles Nelson]

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I think that if we are too emotionally involved in a topic, we shouldn't
bring it into the classroom as an assignment. Back in January, LiveScience
reported on a study (at
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060124_political_decisions.html) about
how staunch

"Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without
letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.

And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their
point of view. ...

The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally
biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be
discounted, Westen and his colleagues say. ...

The brain imaging revealed a consistent pattern. Both Republicans and
Democrats consistently denied obvious contradictions for their own candidate
but detected contradictions in the opposing candidate.

"The result is that partisan beliefs are calcified, and the person can learn
very little from new data," Westen said."

Applied to education, it means that emotionally involved or ideologically
driven instructors, whether liberal or conservative, cannot see or accept
how they are indoctrinating their students even when confronted with data or
evidence to the contrary, and so should stay away from topics concerning
their "vested interest[s]."

Charles Nelson

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I think that if we are too emotionally involved in a topic, we shouldn't bring it into the classroom as an assignment. Back in January, LiveScience reported on a study (at <a href="http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060124_political_decisions.html">
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060124_political_decisions.html</a>) about how staunch<br><br>&quot;Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows. 
<font face="arial" size="2"><font face="arial">
<p class="style1">And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view. ...</p><p class="style1"><font><font><font face="arial" size="2"><font face="arial">The test subjects on
both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by
ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, Westen
and his colleagues say. ...</font></font></font></font></p><p class="style1"><font face="arial" size="2"><font face="arial"><p class="style1">The
brain imaging revealed a consistent pattern. Both Republicans and
Democrats consistently denied obvious contradictions for their own
candidate but detected contradictions in the opposing candidate. </p>
<p class="style1">&quot;The result is that partisan beliefs are calcified, and the person can learn very little from new data,&quot; Westen said.&quot;</p></font></font></p><p class="style1">Applied to education, it means that emotionally involved or ideologically driven instructors, whether liberal or conservative, cannot see or accept how they are indoctrinating their students even when confronted with data or evidence to the contrary, and so should stay away from topics concerning their &quot;vested interest[s].&quot;
<br></p><p class="style1">Charles Nelson<br></p></font></font>

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