The accuser has the burden of proof--and has met it. There is no stronger evidence than first-hand observation. I have 15 years in the academy at multiple institutions and have seen the phenomenon I'm describing over and over again.
A next-best form of evidence is testimonial evidence, and I have discussed the issue with dozens of academics, left, right, and otherwise at dozens of institutions, who confirm and have fine-tuned my observations. In fact, I've met academics who straightforwardly admit that they proselytize in the classroom and that they have the right to.
Incidentally, before lecturing me on evidential methods, you may want to go back and read what I wrote with a little more care. The only proposition to which I'm committed is that left-wing proselytization takes place in the classroom and that it is a problem. I made no quantitative claims about "majorities" or "minorities." I'm merely committed to saying that proselytization takes place--to such a degree as to constitute a problem.
If you read your own passage a little more closely, you will discover that YOU are the one making unfounded quantitative claims about "the overwhelming majority of us" who "don't proselytize", who are "healthy skeptics" and who are agnostic between left and right. That claim goes WAY beyond anything I said. Evidence, please?
Nor did I say that "more left-wing professors proselytize than right-wing ones". If right-wingers are a tiny percentage of the aggregate, and ALL of them are (ex hypothesi) proselytizing, it would take a SMALL number of left-wing proselytizers to constitute a BIGGER problem than the right-wing ones. I honestly don't know how you've managed to get from that claim of mine to the proposition that "more left-wing professors proselytize than right wing ones." I didn't say that, and nothing I said implies it.
Actually, I was only assuming "ex hypothesi" that 100% of right-wingers proselytize (a simplifying assumption that seems to have gone under your otherwise rather touchy radar screen). But since NOT all right wingers DO proselytize, my point can be made stronger: if not all right wingers proselytize and there are a tiny number of them in sum, then given their larger numbers, proselytization by a relatively SMALL number of left wingers will constitute a bigger problem than proselytization by right wingers. It's a little problematic to be lectured so loftily about 'evidence' by a person incapable of grasping such elementary facts.
You say provide something "outside of anecdotal evidence." You'll have to explain to me what form of evidence is BETTER than anecdotal evidence for the events that I'm alleging to exist. ALL evidence of human events reduces to observational evidence, and anecdotes are simply testimonial claims about observations made. Since you are the one making the positive assertion here, you'll have to meet your burden of proof: that we can somehow dismiss evidence simply because it is "anecdotal." (Incidentally, in consistency, shouldn't you be applying your own standard to yourself? What is the non-anecdotal evidence that "the overwhelming majority of us work very hard not to proselytize and work hard enough to..." If that isn't an anecdotal claim, I'd be curious how you operationalized the variable "working hard enough.")
Speaking of evidence, could you show me exactly where I've made "blanket accusations"? More precisely: WHAT is the blanket accusation you claim I've made?
by Irfan Khawaja on August 4, 2006 at 4:55 PM