![]() ![]() Above the fold, the very first paper of this fall semester declared its intentions in bold inch-high type: The Retriever, UMBC’s student newspaper since 1966, has always had something to say. ![]() “I want them to doubt whether or not they know the truth, and I want them to doubt it so they understand that the truth is something that is worth the trouble.” I wrote it on the board, so that’s a word.’ And so now they’re thinking, ‘Why am I trusting this?’” says Thomas. “And that’s a super-concentrated version of the same kind of skepticism we increasingly need in day-to-day life.”Īnd so Thomas’s way of purposely misspelling words on the whiteboard to see if anyone calls him out on it isn’t just some kooky professor trick, but a way of kickstarting that doubt in his students. “Any kind of proposition that’s given to you, the only way you can actually get to a proof - even when it’s true - is to try and think how it might be false and to hurl all these possibilities at it, and try to see if there’s a chink somewhere that things don’t work out,” says Suri. The best way of moving forward is to doubt everything, the two agree, discussing it upon meeting for the first time. I wrote it on the board, so that’s a word.’Īnd so now they’re thinking, ‘Why am I trusting this?’” Philosophy hopes to create a truthful description of the world, but anyone studying it long enough eventually realizes how naive the pursuit is, Thomas says: there’s so much standing in the way of answers. One plus one equals two, but it can take hundreds of pages to prove that equation. ![]() It’s all part of how they teach their students to think deeply about two subjects known for building off of deceptively simple ideas. He’ll say he’s in his 70s, for instance (which he most certainly is not), but with a truly double take-inducing deadpan. Thomas approaches his intro students in similar fashion, telling them a series of truths about himself when he first meets them, then building into statements that could or could not be believable, and then laying it on a bit thicker. “And I say, ‘Do you know what this is saying? Do you think there might be something wrong with it?’ And so then they scramble to try and find what could be wrong,” he says. The students realize they’re trying earnestly to prove that any whole number, like 1, 2, 3, etc., equals any other possible whole number. Suri likes to start his 301 class with a proof that seems right…until it suddenly doesn’t. So, when they talk with their classes about representations of truth in their fields - proofs, axioms, facts, and the like - they sometimes bend it a bit just for the sake of argument. Moment #14: Being Ourselves, for Ourselves and Strangers - Our (Secret) Truthsįor those who think college is just about sitting in a lecture hall, listening to a professor profess, absorbing what they hear, and leaving with a brain full of absolutes, we humbly turn your attention to the far corner of the room.Īs a mathematician, professor, and novelist Manil Suri wants his students to question everything they hear as a philosopher, instructor Jim Thomas desires the same. Moment #13: All Voices Welcome - Conversations We Avoid Over Thanksgiving Dinner Moment #12: Listening to Our Instincts - The Computer is (Not) Always Right Moments #6-11: Walking the Talk - Words Become Actions Moment #5: Creating Safe Spaces - Seen and Believed Moment #4: Seeking the Truth - Science and Faith Moment #3: Examining Our Biases - Seeking Honesty in Collections Moment #2: Committing to Print - Beyond Black & White ![]() Moment #1: Questioning Everything - Math + Philosophy = Doubt These are but a few of our community’s ways of approaching tough questions. This is a community where that light burns brightly. Nothing we do at UMBC is more important than the search for truth, and our role in teaching students how to think critically.” In his State of the University address this fall, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski noted, “We are a community that believes in the importance of having respect for each other and seeking the truth. And we nurture each other as we figure things out. (Sometimes we are our own worst barriers, in fact.) But we persist in breaking through, in not shying away. Humanity strives for truth, but it’s not such an easy thing to achieve. Moments of examining our ideals and acting upon them. Moments of listening and believing as someone’s personal truth unfolds before you. Moments of principled argument over sandwiches in The Commons. ![]()
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