Friday, February 6, 2015

Superstition among a nation of proud atheists

I find myself frequently perturbed by the nuisance of meeting students to write in their little books--their "indexes".  They are a passport sized book recording their coursework.  And, I confess that recently I failed to show up at a pre-arranged meeting.  (Originally I was to give a test at that time, but as no one signed up for the test, I erroneously concluded that there was no reason for me to show up.  I forgot about the student I'd agreed to meet, operating on the assumption that other students would show up to take a test.)

It's a nuisance to arrange a time to meet (see note), and it is a waste of time to write in one.  The grade has already been recorded in the University computer system, and it is, in fact, also a nuisance to be sure that the date of examination recorded in the little book matches what's been entered into the university computer.  (Note:  Yes, office hours/ or a scheduled hour should avoid the need to arrange a time.)

Pointless.  The persistence of a nineteenth century bit of technology when a perfectly acceptable 21st century replacement exists.

I have, in less charitable moments, imagined there might be a sad room filled with people who have no other job in life than to monitor these little books.  And I have even gone so far as to contemplate the mean thought that they have been so affected by this redundant expenditure of energy that they are no longer able to do anything useful.  But, I think that is unrealistically cynical.

However, it is a mystery why Czechs persist in this particular waste of time, energy, ink, and paper.

Especially as I've know Czechs who imagined that their mere atheism somehow guaranteed them access to higher standards of human reasoning than religiously minded individuals. As if mere denial of the existence of god or gods sufficed to guarantee clarity of thought. 

If nothing else, the continuing existence of these annoying little books proves that atheism alone does not guarantee clarity of thought, or the choice of reasonable institutional policies.  (I do not find it convincing to suggest, as someone once did, that in the event of a nuclear war or other disaster, these little books would survive.  Any disaster that wiped out the university's computers would equally deprive us of these lovely little books.)

Nor, for that matter, need atheism automatically free anyone from a variety of erroneous thoughts and prejudices.  Contemporary psychology catalogues various forms of irrationality from an exaggerated tendency to believe one is in control (the illusion of control) to various errors involving statistics such as failing to consider the sample size.  Mere atheism does not guarantee anything except, I suppose, freedom from some of the errors made by some theists.  The persistence of this particular institutional peculiarity --the "index"--strikes me as little more than an absurd piece of irrationality or superstition, as silly as the silliest of religious rituals, and wholly unworthy of existence, and something which should make any self-proclaimed fan of rationality blush with embarrassment.

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