Why are university students so left wing?

Young, naive, think they can change the world.

blah blah blah thesaurus and failed english language degree blah blah blah. only a leftist uni student could turn an insult into a philosophical statement

In our society, young, naive and ambitious students have helped many a times.

Careful when you lay that terrible blanketed statement, because it masks a shade over the gigantic and complex truth that comprises and encompasses both the thought-to-be-understood and the unforeseen elements of human nature, philosophy, science, economics, politics, religion, and etc.

That run-down pillow you peacefully sleep on, ironically, is wherein lies the behemoth of your ignorance.

There are a number of contributors.

1. Quite a lot of teaching material is subtly left wing if not openly.
2. Younger people have less exposure to reality and are more prone to believe things on face value as well as fall for idealism.
3. Growing up people predominantly experience a socialist system. It's what their used to. The impending transition to a non-socialist experience can also be frightening.

The first two can go both ways but currently lean left. The last is a constant.

I was young, naive, and ambitious, too once. It's called self reflection and wisdom.

They're not all left wing. The ones that are have their reasons I'm sure.

People could come from poor working class families, and have to take out a huge student loan which sits over them. That could seem unfair because many peoples' parents pay it all.

Similarly, people from rich families who are having their university payed for would probably be more right wing. But again, this is just an assumption. There are so many factors.

Is Elon Musk ambitious? You ought to choose your words carefully.

You might be much wiser than your past self, but that doesn't mean you're not naive in other areas. You may even have such deep understandings of many different things because of your life experience, but would you not want to be able to flexibly handle young ideas when they're needed, not least because old senile ideas perpetrate many things wrong (and many right) in our world? Point is, continuous growth requires a young eye - "the best teachers learn as much from the students as they learn from them."

"The best students forget everything they know when learning."

You were the one to use "ambitious", I merely used your sentence...what a joke.

Also, your quote does in no way imply that "continuous growth requires a young eye". For one, all his students could be old. It requires new impetus and constant challenge maybe, but that's not the same as "a young eye".

I didn't get your joke. Please explain, so I may remember for future reference.

If all of the teacher's students are old, then that's all the more reason to adopt a flexible mindset to new ideas. The experience of the old should allow them to effectively do that... unless they're too rigorous with their own current ideas of what it means to improve. When I say "young eye", I mean exactly this: being able to look at new ideas from a fresh (and experienced) perspective before shooting them down because it isn't the same as what you're used to in your comfort zone.

I'm pretty sure you knew exactly what I meant. If you didn't, hopefully I nailed the loose screws in our conversation regarding that concept.

The joke is that you told me off for using a word that I only used because you did...

I'll break it down for you once.

You lumped the word 'ambitious' alongside 'young' and 'naive' as things you 'once' were, all of which preceded the statement: 'It's called self reflection and wisdom.' All of this to suggest that through wisdom, life experience and self-reflection, you are no longer the following attributes: young, naive... and, of course, ambitious.

In essence, you've basically asserted that being 'ambitious' is a negative quality (among the others), something you are no longer, because of "wisdom".

Yet... a wise person can be ambitious and ambitiousness is not a negative quality. Well, depending on your definition of wise, at least - I'm confidently assuming that we both are referring to the same "wise".

Are you ok?

Me: "Young, naive, think they can change the world."

You: "In our society, young, naive and ambitious students have helped many a times. "

Me: "I was young, naive, and ambitious, too once. It's called self reflection and wisdom."

You: "Is Elon Musk ambitious? You ought to choose your words carefully. "

Me: Hahahahahahaha

Dude please, for your own sake, just stop. Before I hit submit just now I skimmed your post: "you've basically asserted that being 'ambitious' is a negative quality" - you have completely gone off the rail on something you started yourself. Please stop.