College Stories 2: Critical Philosophy

As a freshman, my first class at the University of Texas was philosophy 101.  The professor was Frederick Genascol.  There were over 300 students in the lecture hall.  I was totally intimidated on one hand and excited on the other.  I was eager to learn from great minds at a major university.  I would become disillusioned.


These were the days when smoke of the Vietnam war was spreading across America.  The draft boards were aggressive in finding conscripts for the escalating war effort.  Poor grades would likely earn a one-way trip to to the offices of the draft board.


Professor Genascol was a small, swarthy man with black, unkept hair and a caterpillar mustache.  No matter the weather, he always wore a trench coat and carried an umbrella.  He continued to carry the umbrella as he lectured.  He was very much playing the role of an eccentric college professor.


During that first lecture, the professor told the students that no questions were allowed during the class; he said that any questions that the students had would be answered during his posted office hours.  He told us that most of us would become atheists by the end of the semester.  He told us that he was going to teach us to "think critically"...Not movie critic "critically," but rather "does this make sense" critically.  He then assigned a reading assignment from one of our text-books and told us to be prepared for a quiz  for our next class date.  He dismissed the class.  A one hour lecture period was over in less than thirty minutes.


In spite of studying the material thoroughly, my first test score was a big fat C.  I went to the professor's office for an explanation and seeking how I might improve.  He wasn't  there.  The hours posted on his office door said he was supposed to be there, but he wasn't... nor was he ever there during subsequent visits.


Professor Genascol had several teaching assistants: graduate students who monitored student attendance (we had assigned seats), picked up our tests and after they were graded, distributed them back to the students.  They were all surly, long-haired and dirty...and these were the days before hippies.


I never got within a hundred feet of Professor Genascol and I did learn to think critically...but I did not become an atheist or even an agnostic.


Looking back now, I wonder what the leaders of this country read while students.  Did they read "The Prince" or "The Art of War"? Did they read the critical warnings against government penned by Jefferson and Franklin?  Did they not consider what Vietnam taught before undertaking two wars in the middle east which are bankrupting America and killing many of our young,  Vietnam killed around sixty thousand of our military (if you believe our government's accounting) and maimed many, many more.  Did anyone investigate the dangers of unregulated banking?  Did the corporate bailout make sense to you?


Do you trust your government?


Please think critically...