Ivy League professors tell students, “Think for yourself”

In a publicly released letter, a group of professors from Yale, Princeton and Harvard stress the need for students to think for yourself.

Here’s one highlight from the letter about a major issue on our college campuses today:“…’the tyranny of public opinion’ does more than merely discourage students from dissenting from prevailing views on moral, political, and other types of questions. It leads them to suppose that dominant views are so obviously correct that only a bigot or a crank could question them.”

To counter the problem, the professors advise:“…taking the trouble to learn and honestly consider the strongest arguments to be advanced on both or all sides of questions—including arguments for positions that others revile and want to stigmatize and against positions others seek to immunize from critical scrutiny.”

So, do yourself a real favor: think for yourself by reading this amazingly candid – in fact downright courageous – letter. I hope this letter gets read into our legislature’s record at some point and becomes a discussion item in our public schools, as well. Thoughtful, informed and respectful debate is what builds America. Bigotry (see definition in the professors’ letter), either from the left or right, does not.