Fred Bishop

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• March 10, 2010, on Universities and Economic Growth:

  With hindsight(!) three of the greatest problems with the University education I received was the politicisation of the content of study in the Arts (anthropology/philosophy) faculties; the chasm that existed between the Arts and Science faculties (math); and overall the poor quality of the tenured staff and teaching practice. In math for example, proof theory was not taught systematically at all, the history of math was not presented systematically (which is fatal for understanding in an essentially cumulative science), and to cap it all off, complete proofs were not always presented. No wonder the dropout rate for math was catastrophic (from 300 students in year 1, to 100 in year 2, to 30 "mathematically minded" students in year 3). In both the Arts and in maths there has long grown up a ferocious in-group "professionalism" that is designed to keep outsiders out and insiders smuggly pleased with themselves and their "honest, hardworking, colleagues"; an educated layman cannot today pi...