"Keep an open mind...."

A Reason online story suggests the idea of "intellectual diversity" as a conservative ruse in education...wonder if this could be connected to a Pennsylvania school district's policy of urging kids to consider intelligent design theory despite being taught evolution. (NYT Mag story)

But how much do students care—even college students? Students have a way of leaving debates at school—especially when at the elementary or middle-school level. The ultimate effect of "evolution is just a theory" policies will be to increase the number of theories students may or may not fall for under ideological pressure from parents, priests or even teachers—not to encourage them to consider the relative merits of the theories and make up their own minds.

The same is true to some extent of college students. As the Reason story points out, college students lately are "organization kids," liberal or not. "No one seriously..believes diversity on elite campuses extends past skin color," the story states. This is true, but college students themselves actually tend to believe that, though in a vague way; and they certainly ignore intellectual diversity, making this debate less immediately important.