I think my history teacher's promoting woo

[Brandon Pilcher]

At my high school, I'm enrolled in an AP World History class. We've finished both our textbook and our exams, so my teacher decided to shift the class's focus to postmodernism and how our perception of reality is changing. One of the major themes we are now exploring is how "enchanted" the world really is. My teacher thinks that we don't perceive how "connected" we and life on earth are with the rest of the cosmos---I don't know what that means, but he's mentioning quantum stuff, "non-local phenomena", "consciousness fields", and showing us clips from the movie What the [Bleep] Do We Know? He also asserted two things that I am very skeptical about:

1) Studies have confirmed that people's intentions and consciousness can affect the outcomes of random number generators;

2) There is a guy named Sheldrake who thinks that dogs have a strong enough sense of intuition to predict what their owners will do. My teacher tells me Sheldrake's studies have been replicated.

I find both of these claims bothersome, particularly the first, because I cannot imagine how a human mind can manipulate the complex circuitry of a computer. I can't even move little hairs on people sitting next to me; does my teacher expect me to accept that I can affect the functioning of a computer, with all its chips and wires? Furthermore, I don't know if this subject matter is appropriate for a world history course. The general topic of postmodernism, maybe, since it is a cultural development and cultural developments are relevant to history, but not this parapsychology sort of stuff.

 

[Greanbeens]

I saw those experiments talked about on a Discovery Channel documentary about remote viewing and psi phenonema and the CIA training people...

I think the random number generator experiments yielded an influence of like 0.0001 or something - i don't know enough about the subject to comment on the science of it.

It sounds like your teacher may have seen the same program?

 

[Prometheus]

It sounds like your teacher wasn't paying attention in Science class.

 

[laarree]

Wow, I wish I had had my wits about me in high school like you apparently do. Randi has written about Rupert Sheldrake -- I think in "Flim Flam!" -- and googling "sheldrake" on this site brings up lots of references to him. "What the [Bleep] Do We Know?" was made by followers of J.Z. Knight and her "channeled" character "Ramtha", and was called "a rampant example of abuse by charlatans and cults" and given a Pigasus award here in 2004 http://www.randi.org/jr/040105capitalizing.html#11

Sounds like your teacher is a starry-eyed New Age believer.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Wiki article on the movie (including criticism).
PEAR with link to skepdic.

 

[Explorer]

A quantum particle behaves differently when it is being observed, apparently.

Don't ask me why, but physicists say that it does!

 

[LostAngeles]

A quantum particle behaves differently when it is being observed, apparently.

Don't ask me why, but physicists say that it does!

I'm not a physicist, but I can tell you it's because in order to observe the particle we have to do something to it that changes its behavior. We're not able yet* to observe them without altering some property of them. As I understand it, this is the source of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

*I don't know if the situation can change or not.

 

[Gate2501]

I'm not a physicist, but I can tell you it's because in order to observe the particle we have to do something to it that changes its behavior. We're not able yet* to observe them without altering some property of them. As I understand it, this is the source of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

*I don't know if the situation can change or not.

I was under the impression that reality itself did not have a position for them.

 

[LostAngeles]

I was under the impression that reality itself did not have a position for them.

I recall that the electron is more of a smear and it's location is best described by a probability curve, but I think we need to find us a physicist to explain it.

I'm just a mathematician-in-training. I only make the stuff work.

 

[Gate2501]

I recall that the electron is more of a smear and it's location is best described by a probability curve, but I think we need to find us a physicist to explain it.

I'm just a mathematician-in-training. I only make the stuff work.

Well I am just a high school educated nerd with too much time on his hands, so yes, we probably need a professional opinion.

 

[Lothian]

The mind influencing machine experiments were done at PEAR.

In their own words "After nearly 30 years of work in this field, the lab closed its doors at Princeton in February of 2007. The feeling of the founders and lab staff was that while a vast amount of additional study was needed, it could not easily be accomplished in the confines of the university laboratory environment, and that it was time to move on"

Skepdic gives an overview and further links.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Well, Brandon....

First, I commend you for being astute enough to catch the teacher at this. Second, though you might want to think twice about it if you want to be popular, since I'm sure the class just loves this little side trip into fantasyland...... But, assuming you don't want to call him/her down in class, then at minimum, the teacher should be reported. Post-Modernism has no real place in a high school World History class (I assume AP = Advanced Placement). It's philosophy, at best... (and smarmy woo, at worst).

 

[Soapy Sam]

It's good thatbyour teacher has you thinking. Teachers are not supposed to feed you stuff they agree with. They are supposed to make you revolt.

Rupert Sheldrake is a very interesting dude, who in my opinion is a fascinating example of how very slightly a scientist has to deviate from the rules to arrive at conclusions which are dead wrong. Study Sheldrake's experimental methodology and you will learn more in a day about how not to set up a double blind experiment than Albert Einstein could have taught you in a year.

Quantum entanglement is indeed very strange.
Quantum anything is very strange.

The universe is indeed connected at all sorts of levels. Physical law applies at all levels;-Cosmology, Astronomy, Geology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Quantum Mechanics- it all hangs together. Nothing woo about it, just something wonderful. Reality.

Learn two things from your history teacher:-
1. History.
2. It's a very strange and wonderful universe out there, and one of the strangest things is that it is amenable to reason.

I envy you. The next thirty years are going to be interesting times- and I'm too old.

 

[Brandon Pilcher]

Well, Brandon....

First, I commend you for being astute enough to catch the teacher at this. Second, though you might want to think twice about it if you want to be popular, since I'm sure the class just loves this little side trip into fantasyland...... But, assuming you don't want to call him/her down in class, then at minimum, the teacher should be reported. Post-Modernism has no real place in a high school World History class (I assume AP = Advanced Placement). It's philosophy, at best... (and smarmy woo, at worst).

Who do I report to?

I wouldn't say that my class loves the postmodern/wooish stuff. If anything, a lot of them seem to feel incredulous. I know one fellow student who certainly is.

And yes, AP = Advanced Placement here.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Don't go that route.
You disagree with what he's telling you, then say so.
Say it politely, firmly and explain your rasoning.
If he's a decent teacher, he'll hear you out and argue back.
Could be this is a learning opportunity for everyone.

If you are going on to college, bear in mind that you will be expected to think for yourself, not to passively absorb what you are told there. You have a chance to practise. Get in there.
ETA- A useful tactic is toi ask him to explain IN DETAIL what he means. This is damn hard with woo reasoning and the person usually ends in a muddle, which is when you go in for the kill.

I wish my teachers had given me the chance. The buggers were always right.

 

[AgeGap]

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat by John Gribbin is a book I read almost twenty years ago. This book explains about how an observer can alter an experiments outcome.
I seem to remember it was about light being diffracted by two parallel slits and causing an interference pattern. As the light approaches a state where only one photon is emitted at a time the interference pattern will still be registered.
A single photon of light going through both slits at once. Wow.
When the experimenters tried to find the slit the photon went through the diffraction pattern no longer appeared. The photons went through only one slit. Double wow.
I think the book is still in print and is well worth searching out.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Who do I report to?

I wouldn't say that my class loves the postmodern/wooish stuff. If anything, a lot of them seem to feel incredulous. I know one fellow student who certainly is.

And yes, AP = Advanced Placement here.

Report to school board or school administration. People have a direct interest in what is being taught in the classroom. There are certainly enough Fundie busy-bodies sticking their noses into classrooms and always raising hell about something or another. It'd be even better if a parent (read: taxpayer) was to do so.

It's not unlike the teacher who tried to claim he was fired for wizardry but who was actually dismissed because he deviated from lesson plans and his JOB. Your history teacher is supposed to teach history. Somehow linking up a pseudo pscientist like Sheldrake and World History seems to be a stretch. I'd far rather a history teacher taught Critical Thinking Skills if they had a little time left over at the end of term.

ETA: And good for your classmates, then. When I was in a uni class in Montreal one of the Anthropology teachers was a complete communal hippy and tried to spend spare time converting the class to pyramid power and various other Occult Light stuff. They ate it up! I guess your generations got more on the ball, and like I said, .... Then Good For YOu Guys!

 

[Brandon Pilcher]

Report to school board or school administration. People have a direct interest in what is being taught in the classroom. There are certainly enough Fundie busy-bodies sticking their noses into classrooms and always raising hell about something or another. It'd be even better if a parent (read: taxpayer) was to do so.

It's not unlike the teacher who tried to claim he was fired for wizardry but who was actually dismissed because he deviated from lesson plans and his JOB. Your history teacher is supposed to teach history. Somehow linking up a pseudo pscientist like Sheldrake and World History seems to be a stretch. I'd far rather a history teacher taught Critical Thinking Skills if they had a little time left over at the end of term.

ETA: And good for your classmates, then. When I was in a uni class in Montreal one of the Anthropology teachers was a complete communal hippy and tried to spend spare time converting the class to pyramid power and various other Occult Light stuff. They ate it up! I guess your generations got more on the ball, and like I said, .... Then Good For YOu Guys!

I sent an e-mail to the principal. I don't want to get my teacher fired like that other guy, though---I just want them to talk.

In fairness to my history teacher, he is very far from being the most...uh..."wooish" person here at my school. My 8th grade science teacher was tons worse; she would preach Christian stuff almost every class and she had an entire bookcase stuffed with the Left Behind series and creationist tomes. Needless to say, evolution was never explored in that class, which is a pity, since I have found it's one of the most fun subjects that can be taught in a science class. Thankfully, all my science teachers after her have been wonderful; my 10th grade bio teacher even gave a lecture on why he refused to teach ID despite being a personal Christian.

ETA: BTW, this happens to be in Hong Kong. Other than some members of the faculty here at school, I haven't noticed much of a fundy problem here. Either there is a problem that I simply haven't detected yet, or the local Confucian and Taoist religions don't inspire as much fervor and anti-science fanaticism as the Abrahamic faiths. We're also a private school, so presumably my parents don't have to support it with their tax dollars.

 

[Cuddles]

I'm not a physicist, but I can tell you it's because in order to observe the particle we have to do something to it that changes its behavior. We're not able yet* to observe them without altering some property of them. As I understand it, this is the source of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

*I don't know if the situation can change or not.

As Gate2501 says, it's not just that observing alters properties, the particles simply don't have an absolute value for certain pairs of properties, position and momentum being the best known. No matter how clever you try to make your measurements, it will never be possible to know both position and momentum above a certain precision at the same time.

Of course, as with all science, the situation can always change if it turns out that current theory isn't correct, but as far as we understand at the moment, there are some things that really are governed by probability.

I certainly agree that this teacher should be reported. No matter what your opinion of this nonsense, the fact is that it is nothing to do with the class he's supposed to be teaching.

 

[Soapy Sam]

I disagree- reread the OP-
At my high school, I'm enrolled in an AP World History class. We've finished both our textbook and our exams, so my teacher decided to shift the class's focus to postmodernism and how our perception of reality is changing.
The guy is teaching modern history, right up to date. The world IS full of woo nonsense.