"Last Lecture" Lectures

[Pangloss]

Have you guys had this happen on your campuses? It's a thing they've started doing on our campus following in the "spiritual footsteps" of Randy Pausch and his famous "last lecture" before he died of cancer. What's really unfortunate, at least in my opinion, is that a lot of the lectures are posed as religious (or at least "spiritual") in nature. The lecture series on our campus is sponsored by the campus' "spiritual life" club.

 

In fairness, they're still mainly focused on personal achievement and goal-setting, which I think is a good thing to talk to college students about in general. But it raises some real questions in my mind about the seemingly alleged superior validity of pre-death opinions and the promotion of spiritualism over reason.

 

Have you all seen this happen on your campuses, and what's your take on it?

[JohnB]

I think the only factor that might increase the validity of pre death opinions is that the consequences of holding those opinions don't matter any more.

 

You can speak freely and honestly on something without worrying about whether it will adversely effect your career.

 

On that basis, I think that they are a good idea. However, they should be sponsored by the campus itself, not a pre biased section of it.

 

I would think that a "Last Lecture" on retirement might be a good thing too. So long as the person isn't bagging the faculty etc., let them go. There might be a small part of his science that he could never get to quite make sense in his own mind, let him talk on that.

 

He might lecture on half finished speculations that might be the seed of an idea for someone else.

 

Personally I can't see much of a downside if it a general thing rather than sponsored by a specific group.

promotion of spiritualism over reason

 

How would feel about them if they were sponsored by the campus "Atheists Association"? Would that be any better?

[Pangloss]

Nope, not to me. A lot of that "spiritualism" stuff isn't overtly religious in nature, either, but I still object to it as a skeptic.

 

That's a good point about nearing death changing your views because you're no longer concerned about the future.

[Severian]

As long as it is billed as personal opinion I see no problem. If the guy have been lecturing for 40 years, towing the party line (so to speak) and never giving his honest viewpoint, don't you think he deserves to be listened to openly for one lecture? Seems like a good thing to me.

[padren]

That's a good point about nearing death changing your views because you're no longer concerned about the future.

 

It is also an interesting time in a person's life that leads to a much more encompassing perspective. As far as spirituality goes, I can understand how you feel and I have to admit I haven't examined the content of such lectures so I can't really attest to whether any given instance is objectionable. I will say that I would find any attempt to use such an event to proselytize objectionable, but at the same time if someone's mindset at that time includes spiritual overtones it wouldn't bother me.

If students can resist the "leftist re-education machine" I think they can take a person's feelings on spirituality with a grain of salt too. More likely than not, it will either reinforce what a person already believes or be dismissed outright, but it can still be respected in terms of what it means to the individual who is speaking.

 

I actually feel that it is unfortunate that spirituality is such a hot topic because I think people within a much broader and more diverse range could benefit from a more open and civil dialogue.