Say no to touchy-feely simplicity 2

Reading Michael Wood's "I'll make it simple", I was struggling to choose its single most misguided notion. Not wishing to give up, I offer the following example of its absurd touchy-feely commercial philistinism:

"A student's failure to master something should be viewed as a failure of the epistemological and educational system, not as a failure of the student. Blame the product, not the customer."

In today's "simple" climate, seasoned academics are pressured by the potted-plants brigade into gaining certificates on the correct way to use an overhead projector, and so I am sure Wood has a rosy future. I wholeheartedly endorse his inevitable appointment as vice-chancellor of the University of Poppleton. The barbarians aren't just at the gates, they've come in and put the kettle on.

Paul A. Taylor
Senior lecturer in the sociology of technology
Salford University