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teachers=magicians ?



Dunken's phrase "a wizard should not give away all his tricks"
triggered two responses belonging to the realm of sociology rather
than physics. It occurred to me that in the real world "keeping secrets
to promote self-interest" is more common than we may think.

I suspect that some professional programmers, for example, do
not want people to write their own programs. They want people
to buy software, to hire them and to pay well for needed services.
Introductory computer science courses (for general student
population) used to teach programming, today they teach how
to use existing packages. Who made this change and why?
Programming is an excellent way to promote thinking and to
develop good working habits. Knowing where to click does
not contribute much to intellectual development.

Secrets in politics and in business are also very common. I am
trying to reflect on what William Beaty wrote about teachers, in
that context.

Ludwik Kowalski