Should I speak up in class to insane professors when they talk about political and economic fallacies? For example, bailouts don’t work (when they say the contrary), taxation and inflation is theft, governments have monopolies in courts of law and counterfiting money, etc. I don’t think the students in my classes even understand wtf I’m saying and these are accounting students, supposedly free enterprisers, am I right?
They are so stupid. To be fair, it’s a very stupid part of the country as well. I know every city is pretty dumb, but here they vote about 75% democrat. So even if I say anything I don’t think it does any good.
Save your breath, and the added stigma of being “that guy” that holds up class. It’s jsut better off that way, besides you aren’t goign to convert people in class, or at least, the likelihood is very small.
You can pretty much forget about convincing your professor. So maybe your goal could be to not allow him to speak as easily. Another goal could be to give fellow students alternative ideas. If that is the case then you want to phrase your comments as understandable as possible. It’s also smart to always keep your cool and realize that getting heated doesn’t help you reach your goal of showing fellow students other ideas. Questioning propositions is also a reasonable approach. Just a very simple question: how do you know? (in response to the various interventionist claims)
then don’t bother. I wouldn’t if I were you, though I still imagine how things would have been different if I knew what I know now in my political class back in the days when I was in school… But I simply didn’t care about politics or even economy (phewww).
P.S. but maybe you can try making some “smart-ass” remarks (about taxation, voting, free-association), it’s fun to see a reaction of statists
Seriously, though, I’d say it depends on the circumstances, the character of your professor and, most importantly, how you correct your professor. Even if your professor is a know-it-all-wannabe jerk, there are ways to discuss with him/her the issue at hand w/out straight out calling him stupid. I.e. rather than yelling out “you’re wrong!”, which will inevitably get you on his shit list, be more indirect, such as “assuming it works fine in the short term, what about long run consequences when all banks/countries know they will be bailed out? wouldnt that reduce their incentives to improve and remain competitive?” You’re still saying the same thing, but in a far more polite and productive manner. At the very least, you can set yourself up for an interesting conversation. that’s how i do it with my communist former roommate and, guess what, we’re good friends inspite of our massive disagreements.
So, in short, i’d say it shouldn’t be a problem, just make you’re polite and discrete about it and try to get a discussion out of it. At the very least, he’ll see that you can think critically and outside the box.
true…to an extent. As a TA and student (as well as being a former “that guy” in high school), the stigma is not always as bad as it seems. I used to hold up on my own when pointing out and discussing problems such as these with my high school teachers. Sure, i got labeled a “dork” (a title I am quite proud of :-), but also found out that my fellow students greatly respected my intelligence and own opinion, rather than just absorbing the BS taught in class.
I suppose as long as OP doesn’t go gung-ho about pointing out every silly little thing, I’d say it’s fine.
I must confess I’m one of “those guys”, though I’m not as much anymore and did so in physics and not economics lectures. It’s nice in a way, with the hard sciences, when you ask questons the professors don’t think you’re trying to trip them up and try to help you to the best of their abillity, as long as it’s not holding up the class too much. I’m not sure, but I wonder if the environment would be less welcoming in economics classes and subjects with political implications.
I might have to take a government class next semester. If I do, I am going to do all the research backwards and forwards and just sit in front ripping on the professor the entire time. Its going to rock.
I remember when I took a Constitutional Law class, when it came to the Sherman Act, child labor laws, or the National Industrial Recovery Act, my professor haaaaaaaated me!
I am in the same boat as you as a college student. I always speak up in class, but then again I live in Texas and people here are a bit more independent than in other parts of the country even though I live in the most liberal part of Texas (Austin). Before I speak I always make sure that I can thoroughly back up and defend my arguement. In my experience if you can back up what you say most professors, even though they may disagree with you actually enjoy and appreciate your interest since most of the other kids could care less.
But of course you will never change his/her opinion, but you may at least plant the seeds of truth in some other students head on which they will draw upon at some later date. I also find that once me or someone else breaks the ice and questions what is being taught that others will join into the debate often in your defense. So I say go for it as long as you can explain yourself and keep your cool. I have even met with my professors after class in their offices to discuss things and they seem to appreciate my opinions even if they are 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
Just ask questions, whether serious or not. Otherwise, you are betraying the point of a “lecture”.
You’re going to college to get educated (the things you learn have to be true), not to take part in lectures, a lecture is just a tool, and if it’s a tool for spreading falsehoods, one has to speak up. I’ve been “that guy” since I discovered that I am smarter than most teachers I’ve had so far (in Sweden, the new generation of teachers are the dumb ones, that didn’t make it into industry or whatever). It wasn’t appeciated when I was younger, calling out a teacher when you’re supposed to be a blank slate is not what a teacher expects, and they might even get offended by getting called out. As I’ve grown older (soon to be 18) it’s gotten much more appreciated. In subjects I excel at, teachers might even ask me if hey’re describing something in a correct manner, sometimes I get to help my fellow students when the teacher doesn’t know how to. Generally it works best when there are no political implications, as someone pointed out earlier. If the teacher is discussing password security and says something that is incorrect or misleading I can easily show him why. If we’re supposed to be studying “green computing” and we’re supposed to say what we think of it, it might not be so easy to explain the economic arguments surrounding the subject with a teacher who is a biologist (he referred to not interferring with market as “giving up” once, I kid you not). Some teachers think it’s great when you have your own well-thought-out ideas, and they will give you lots of room for being “that guy”. I can’t stand falsehoods so I always speak up. I think everyone who cares about the truth should.
Because most of them actually teach me things. Ok, there were about 9 years where there was nothing that can be deemed as “teaching” happened although I went to school and has someone with the “teacher” title present, however, that does not discount the teachers who are not as smart as me, but who teach me things anyway. Even though I am smarter than my IT teacher he knows a lot more about the subject than me. But since I am smarter than him, I might actually catch him teaching something that is incorrect, since I, being a smart person, will easily detect that sort of thing. The teacher might say that a 8 character password is useless and will get cracked, because that’s what he read somewehere. I, on the other hand, will obviously think about this for a second. My first thought would be “on what system/platform?”. If you have a secure enough system (SSH with some extra protections enabled to prevent brute-forcing and so on) someone cracking your password from its length is not going to be a likely problem. Well, let’s imagine an unsecure system/platform. Let’s say that a school had a “ghost” user on all computers that had admin access level, what kind of password is safe if we want to protect ourselves against someone cracking that password? According to my teacher, a passowrd that is 8 characters long will be unsuitable, but at the same time a password with only alhpanumeric characters that is 14 characters is considered safe, wtf? Consider “Bl@@]c!K” as a password, and then consider “Fgpyyih804423W” which one is more secure? I’d say the shorter one is safer, since you would need a way bigger rainbow table to crack it. But anyway, the teacher didn’t even mention that the kind of system/platform you’re using is way more important to look at than how good your password is.
OMG! Girls actually believe in free markets and freedom! And cute ones at that! Thanks, Nielsio, that video gave me new hope of someday being more than a loser who sits at his computer watching Ron Paul videos all day. Maybe someday I’ll even have a girlfriend…maybe.
In regards to OP, I am (hopefully) going back to college as a sophomore in the fall. I might as well just say where I’m going. Middlebury in Vermont. Yes, one of the most liberal (in the bad sense) places on Earth. Personally, I am excited to be “that guy” like Sarah. On the other hand, my strategy is to avoid all the classes where I would disagree with everything and be arguing with everyone all class. For example, my brother just took Macroeconomics at Middlebury and had to read a textbook by Paul Krugman. I’d much rather read Mises in my spare time, and pass on the Keynsian lectures (not that it isn’t valuable to read the mainstream viewpoint, just much more valuable to become well-versed in the Austrian school).
I want to be a doctor, so I am planning to take lots of science and major in molecular biology/biochemistry. That way, I won’t have to argue about politics and economics. But in my spare time, I want to wake up as many people as possible as efficiently as possible. So this means talking to people with less brainwashing or libertarian leanings, and starting a campus group to spread the ideas in larger events. I’m interested in making friends, but just as interested in achieving liberty. And a few girls would be nice, too.
"Should I speak up in class to insane professors when they talk about political and economic fallacies? "
I would say yes. But I would recommend asking thought provoking questions, as if you are really interested in the answer. For example, the bailouts. Ask the professor what would have been done with the money instead. Ask him how he knows it would not have been better spent other ways. That way the class get’s to hear an opposing view. Just make sure you do not get into an argument, you will lose, because the professor is always right. If he makes a point you cannot address at that exact moment, think about it, and bring it up in a later class, saying you thought about it and you had another question about it.
