The battle for free speech on American campuses isn’t just a string of legal skirmishes to protect students and faculty from backlash when they speak their minds.
I think we have known forever that emotional arguments can win over reasoned, fact-based arguments in most situations, even, in my experience, with smart people who think they are above emotional manipulation. Not really a new revelation. So, we teach people how to dress and talk and which behaviors are mostly like to win over an audience, in addition to providing data that is fact-checked for accuracy.
Decades ago, the summer before I began teaching at a state college as adjunct faculty, I dropped in at the department's office to meet the professor who would be supervising my work. I was in blue jeans and t-shirt, in my thirties; classes were not in session. Colorado is pretty casual when it comes to dress codes.
The secretary was not very nice as I asked her if the prof had time to meet with me. She handed me a form to fill out and pointed out a chair.
Sit and wait, she said. I looked at the form, which was a complaint form for students to fill out.
I had given her my name...and then I realized she did not know who I was.
My apologies, I said. I am the new substitute adjunct for the conflict management class.
Her voice and expression changed instantly. Big smile. Warm and friendly.
And then she said something that made me wish I had had a means to videotape her.
"My apologies. I was rude to you only because I thought you were a student."
After 40+ years, as a management consultant to dozens of workplaces, including academia, across the US, I can say that our species is mostly not rational.
Big fan of your work.
I think we have known forever that emotional arguments can win over reasoned, fact-based arguments in most situations, even, in my experience, with smart people who think they are above emotional manipulation. Not really a new revelation. So, we teach people how to dress and talk and which behaviors are mostly like to win over an audience, in addition to providing data that is fact-checked for accuracy.
Decades ago, the summer before I began teaching at a state college as adjunct faculty, I dropped in at the department's office to meet the professor who would be supervising my work. I was in blue jeans and t-shirt, in my thirties; classes were not in session. Colorado is pretty casual when it comes to dress codes.
The secretary was not very nice as I asked her if the prof had time to meet with me. She handed me a form to fill out and pointed out a chair.
Sit and wait, she said. I looked at the form, which was a complaint form for students to fill out.
I had given her my name...and then I realized she did not know who I was.
My apologies, I said. I am the new substitute adjunct for the conflict management class.
Her voice and expression changed instantly. Big smile. Warm and friendly.
And then she said something that made me wish I had had a means to videotape her.
"My apologies. I was rude to you only because I thought you were a student."
After 40+ years, as a management consultant to dozens of workplaces, including academia, across the US, I can say that our species is mostly not rational.
I believe the internet cycle of praise to hatred also increases this impulse to hold your tongue out of fear of how others will respond.