Response to comment by George Delury, Why higher education is a liberal bastion
Reader comment on item: Conservative Professors, an Endangered Species

Submitted by John (United States), Apr 15, 2005 at 00:34

This reeks from the arrogance of higher education. My humble apologies for being so direct, but I just have to point that out.:

Commenter George Delury said, "The academic enterprise is primarily a search for truth with the obvious implication that a new discovery may well contradict an old "truth." The search requires a high tolerance for uncertainty, ambiguity, and contradiction.

Today's conservatives noticeably lack this tolerance and tend strongly to want to cling to old truths, ancien-regime truths dressed up in new, tough-guy clothes. That might even be the defining characteristic of modern conservatism.

Conclusion: conservatives are not comfortable with or suited to the academic enterprise and tend to avoid it, leaving the enterprise to liberals."

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