Do we need universities?

A comment writer in a national newspaper has recently observed that information found on the internet may not always be correct.

Only last week this same comment writer wrote about his education at Cambridge University in the 1970s.  He recalls that some of the academics who taught him were right wing, while others were left wing.  He does not make it entirely clear what he means by those terms, but he does offer some clues.  For example, he associates left wing views with opposition to racial discrimination, and right wing views with opposition to inheritance tax.

He implies – or at least appears to imply – that some of the left wing academics sought unduly to influence the opinions of their students – in short, to brainwash them.  He does not imply – or appears not to imply - that any of the right wing academics indulged in any form of brainwashing.

He then argues that it is increasingly common nowadays for academics to be left wing.  He suggests that this may be a matter of self interest, as academics feed off public funds to a large extent, but surely that was no less true in the 1970s.

Also, even if it is true that British universities are increasingly becoming bastions of left wing brainwashing, then presumably their influence is limited – at least as far as political views are concerned.  I think it is fair to say that most of us change our opinions as we get older, and often do so in response to changes in our personal circumstances.  It is easy to adhere to one set of views when we are students at university, but it is equally very easy to adhere to different views once we have graduated and find ourselves in a different situation.

On the other hand, not all views are what we might term political.  I have read accounts of the persecution of Christian students in universities in the USA, and I often wonder if the same thing could happen in the United Kingdom.

I cannot be certain, but it appears that there may be a lot of brainwashing going on in science faculties of universities both in this country and elsewhere.  Without going into detail right now, I used to be active on a science forum on the internet, and based on that and other experiences I find it hard to avoid the conclusion that people with science degrees can be extremely narrow-minded and even bigoted.

Is there a law which requires universities to seek to educate rather than indoctrinate?  Are university academics required by law to grade their students’ work strictly on the basis of merit?  So far as I am aware, the answer is no.

Universities came into existence in the middle ages, when books were handwritten on vellum, and so were prohibitively expensive for almost everyone.  Public libraries did not exist, but universities had libraries where students could have access to books, and in a structured environment.  Teaching staff were on hand to advise students on which books to read first. The drawback to this was that the teaching staff were in a position to abuse their influence, which is not to say that they did.

We now live in a very different society.  For as long as I can remember, this country has had public libraries where people can access a wide variety of books, and where almost any book can be obtained on request.  Book shops allow us to buy books at prices which most working people can afford.

We also have the internet, which is perhaps the most truly egalitarian invention in the history of the world.  The internet allows almost anyone anywhere in the world to access almost any information, including information which brainwashing academics might prefer us not to have access to.  Of course what we read on the internet may not be true, but things we read in books or hear in lectures may also not be true.

In other words, the foundations of the university system are crumbling, and any sensible government should ask why they still exist.  I am not saying that there is not a reason, but perhaps we could at least be clear what that reason actually is.