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En Garde, whole no. 17, April 1946
Page 31
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page 31. blustering, Prussian chemistry professor--one of the most noxious specimens of over-compensated inferiority complex that I have ever seen. The head of another science department, though married and responsible for a moron (I speak literally) adopted son, was so swishy that I question if he'd be allowed to pace the corner of Hollywood and Vine...he'd make the average fairy appear to be a paragon of masculinity. More amusing was the fat old man in the English department who entertained a semi-conscious delusion that he was a reincarnation of Dr. Samuel Johnson; his aping of the Johnsonian traits preserved for us by Boswell was accurate, hilarious, and not a little pathetic. (In justice to this last named character, I should add that he was not at all incompetent in many respects, and that I always did like him despite his foibles.) I could cite other examples, but I believe I've given enough to show which way the wind blows. Mere psychological maladjustment, of course, does not necessarily make it impossible for a person to do a satisfactory job in his profession, for an instructor to conduct a worthwhile class. When there is any appreciable number of seriously maladjusted persons in a group, however, it is extremely difficult for those associating with them to avoid losing much of the benefits that might otherwise be obtained. This is particularly true in the case of impressionable young people, especially so when they are depending on these same maladjusted individuals for much of their own guidance. The presence of characters on a faculty also has the unhappy effect of making the tougher minded students develop an attitude of contempt towards the individuals in question, towards the subjects which they teach, and in many cases towards the entire idea of a liberal education. When the psychological maladjustment on the part of so many faculty members is coupled with such an astounding proportion of downright incompetancy of one form or another it makes one question the value of higher education altogether. A Ph.D. degree does not make its bearer educated or intelligent, even though it be from Harvard, or Yale, or Heidelberg. Around Blank at least, the cultured, educated man is an extreme rarity; and the competant specialist who knows his own subject thoroughly though he is a complete dolt otherwise, is scarcely more common. The typical Blank professor at the time I was familiar with the place was a man in his late forty's or early fifty's. He held a Ph.D. degree from a reputable University, and had taught most of his post-college life. He had not, as a rule, made especially brilliant marks for himself, either in school or in academic or scholastic life. He had done one bit of relatively minor research or scholastic work from his Ph. D. thesis, and had to all intents and purposes left his chosen field at that point. Undoubtedly he had the University library subscribe to the current literature in his field, and often he had his office (and less frequently his home) filled with such material. It is possible that some of them actually read the stuff, though with most it was no more than a
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page 31. blustering, Prussian chemistry professor--one of the most noxious specimens of over-compensated inferiority complex that I have ever seen. The head of another science department, though married and responsible for a moron (I speak literally) adopted son, was so swishy that I question if he'd be allowed to pace the corner of Hollywood and Vine...he'd make the average fairy appear to be a paragon of masculinity. More amusing was the fat old man in the English department who entertained a semi-conscious delusion that he was a reincarnation of Dr. Samuel Johnson; his aping of the Johnsonian traits preserved for us by Boswell was accurate, hilarious, and not a little pathetic. (In justice to this last named character, I should add that he was not at all incompetent in many respects, and that I always did like him despite his foibles.) I could cite other examples, but I believe I've given enough to show which way the wind blows. Mere psychological maladjustment, of course, does not necessarily make it impossible for a person to do a satisfactory job in his profession, for an instructor to conduct a worthwhile class. When there is any appreciable number of seriously maladjusted persons in a group, however, it is extremely difficult for those associating with them to avoid losing much of the benefits that might otherwise be obtained. This is particularly true in the case of impressionable young people, especially so when they are depending on these same maladjusted individuals for much of their own guidance. The presence of characters on a faculty also has the unhappy effect of making the tougher minded students develop an attitude of contempt towards the individuals in question, towards the subjects which they teach, and in many cases towards the entire idea of a liberal education. When the psychological maladjustment on the part of so many faculty members is coupled with such an astounding proportion of downright incompetancy of one form or another it makes one question the value of higher education altogether. A Ph.D. degree does not make its bearer educated or intelligent, even though it be from Harvard, or Yale, or Heidelberg. Around Blank at least, the cultured, educated man is an extreme rarity; and the competant specialist who knows his own subject thoroughly though he is a complete dolt otherwise, is scarcely more common. The typical Blank professor at the time I was familiar with the place was a man in his late forty's or early fifty's. He held a Ph.D. degree from a reputable University, and had taught most of his post-college life. He had not, as a rule, made especially brilliant marks for himself, either in school or in academic or scholastic life. He had done one bit of relatively minor research or scholastic work from his Ph. D. thesis, and had to all intents and purposes left his chosen field at that point. Undoubtedly he had the University library subscribe to the current literature in his field, and often he had his office (and less frequently his home) filled with such material. It is possible that some of them actually read the stuff, though with most it was no more than a
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