[WikiEN-l] Troubling news on Citizendium

Fri Jan 19 22:16:20 UTC 2007

On 1/19/07, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Problem is that applies to almost any given subject. People do no say
> > "I am not a chemist" even though I can probably find an exception to
> > almost any stamtent about chemisty made by someone without a degree.
>
> Try listening to secondary (high) school Chemistry teachers... they
> have degrees and still teach complete rubbish most of the time. I can
> understand teaching things slightly simplified, but teaching something
> which is actually outright wrong in the name of simplicity is just
> crazy.

Actually, teachers often teach what they believe to be correct.  Most people
forget as much as they remember of their undergraduate classes - when they
set out to teach they go with what the textbook says.  And even then, they
may have misconceptions.

Chemistry teachers (at least in the US) are likely to be science education
majors rather than chemistry majors.  And even chemistry majors don't know
whole swathes of the subject matter...they took the classes that they were
required to take for the major.  They probably had very few forays into the
primary literature, and don't really understand how their science works.