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"In any case, I wonder why you bother going to lectures in the first place and am annoyed that any college-age person would be so disrespectful."</p>
<p>Um, maybe because I don't want to miss any notes and I don't really care what anyone else thinks?
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<p>Well you are missing notes if you are texting and making "discreet" phone calls.</p>
<p>I guess it would be fine if you do that on your job because you don't care what anybody else thinks?</p>
<p>I guess it is fine to talk loudly in the library and the movie theater because you don't care what anybody else thinks?</p>
<p>It is all about having manners, something that you don't have.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the class. Some professors read off the slides that you can find online and only add some things to a small handful of slides. Why not zone out/text while you wait for your professor to get to the new information.</p>
<p>I used to read the paper in math class waiting for the professor to get to the examples. I learned the material from the book the night before each lecture and only came because his examples showed up on the tests.</p>
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I think it depends on the class. Some professors read off the slides that you can find online and only add some things to a small handful of slides. Why not zone out/text while you wait for your professor to get to the new information.</p>
<p>I used to read the paper in math class waiting for the professor to get to the examples. I learned the material from the book the night before each lecture and only came because his examples showed up on the tests.
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<p>It is just rude. Imagine if you were standing in the front of the class lecturing and everybody was reading the paper and not paying attention to you. How would you feel?</p>
<p>You can zone out and text when you are not in class. Is it that hard to actually go to class and pay attention?</p>
<p>^you try that in a 9AM class while you feel like you're gaining 0 from listening.</p>
<p>What is worse, having a class full of students all on their computers and you have no idea if they're taking notes or on facebook or having a class of 100 only with 20 people showing up (this happened in some of my useless lectures)?</p>
<p>Yeah most of my classes just use Powerpoints and don't add anything. The majority of the professors are foreign and not many people fully understand what they are saying anyway. I see people reading random novels, sending emails, listening to their ipods, reading the newspaper, etc all the time. And most are pretty obvious about it.</p>
<p>"I guess it would be fine if you do that on your job because you don't care what anybody else thinks?"</p>
<p>No, because this is a situation where it would not be appropriate. Most jobs require active participation from employees. Most classes don't.</p>
<p>"I guess it is fine to talk loudly in the library and the movie theater because you don't care what anybody else thinks?"</p>
<p>You're making false presumptions here. I don't talk in the library or the movie theater. I also don't talk loudly in class. By "discreet phone calls", I meant picking up the phone and whispering whatever I needed to say. Usually a quick "Meet me after class" conversation, not a whole "What happened last night?" convo.</p>
<p>"You can zone out and text when you are not in class. Is it that hard to actually go to class and pay attention?"</p>
<p>Well, I guess you just aren't popular like some of us on CC.</p>
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^you try that in a 9AM class while you feel like you're gaining 0 from listening.</p>
<p>What is worse, having a class full of students all on their computers and you have no idea if they're taking notes or on facebook or having a class of 100 only with 20 people showing up (this happened in some of my useless lectures)?
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<p>I have shown up to 7:30 A.M. classes feeling that way. The main thing was I showed up, paid attention, and actually learned something.</p>
<p>Who cares what the other students are doing? If they don't want to pay attention to the lecture, then that is their problem. You shouldn't worry about what other people are doing.</p>
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or having a class of 100 only with 20 people showing up (this happened in some of my useless lectures)?
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<p>Why do you bother showing up to the "useless" lectures if you are not even going to pay attention to the lectures??</p>
<p>^first semester I did because I was all "I'm paying 50K to go to this school I'm not missing a class." I ended up zoning out or texting to keep myself busy. When I did pay attention (most of the time I was there) I would watch my professor read off of his slides, the same slides right in front of me. I figured that I knew how to read well enough that I didn't need a college professor to read out loud for me so I stopped going second semester.</p>
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^first semester I did because I was all "I'm paying 50K to go to this school I'm not missing a class." I ended up zoning out or texting to keep myself busy. When I did pay attention (most of the time I was there) I would watch my professor read off of his slides, the same slides right in front of me. I figured that I knew how to read well enough that I didn't need a college professor to read out loud for me so I stopped going second semester.
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<p>This is what they do at 50k schools? Those sound like some of the professors at my 5K school.</p>
<p>You both are missing the point. If you aren't gaining anything from the lecture, then why bother showing up for class? Just show up for the tests.</p>
<p>What you both are doing is rude to the professor and distracting and disrespectful to other students.</p>
<p>I go mainly because there are random attendance quizzes that count for 15% of the final average. And I do pay attention most of the time. I can multi-task quite well.</p>
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I go mainly because there are random attendance quizzes that count for 15% of the final average. And I do pay attention most of the time. I can multi-task quite well.
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<p>This is what you said earlier:</p>
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I text all the time during class. I also go on Facebook on my phone and sometimes make discreet phone calls (in huge lectures).
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<p>You said you text most of the time and you pay attention most of the time. Which is it? You can't fully grasp a lecture and text.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s “high and mighty” to think that talking, texting, calling, Facebook-ing, or reading the newspaper in class is rude to the professor. Quite honestly, I’m surprised that some people think it’s OK. Just put yourself in the professor’s shoes! Do you think you would just “not care” if you were lecturing and students were acting like you weren’t there?</p>
<p>Venkat89 is correct that the professor doesn’t immediately know whether a student with a laptop is taking notes or Facebook-ing, especially if the student looks at the professor every now and then. However, that is way different than making a “discreet” phone call or texting. In our country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, so unless the professor has evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, he shouldn’t assume that a student with a laptop is Facebook-ing. Can you apply this reasoning to “discreet” calls and texting? Absolutely not. When you do either of those in class while the professor is lecturing, there is no doubt in his mind that you are not paying attention. You are not innocent.</p>
<p>I go to a pretty small school, so it's pretty hard to do things like that in classes. I've actually only had one class so far where people used laptops, and while some people text, it's pretty rare.</p>
<p>In a class of 30 or something, I guess it is pretty bad because the professor will actually notice. But in a lecture of 600 and you're on the second level? I don't think so.</p>
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You both are missing the point. If you aren't gaining anything from the lecture, then why bother showing up for class? Just show up for the tests.</p>
<p>What you both are doing is rude to the professor and distracting and disrespectful to other students.
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<p>..you're THAT KID, aren't you? the one who causes everyone around him to roll their eyes whenever he asks a question?</p>
<p>yep, i knew it.</p>
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I listen to my ipod during class, eat a sandwich, and one time took a hit of a joint underneath the table in the back of a lecture hall
<p>Personally, I think it's insanely disrespectful and stupid, but hell, it's their money they're wasting on that class, and no, most people aren't as good as multitasking as they think. As long as people aren't bothering me or the class though, they can do whatever the hell they want, and I won't bother them. </p>
<p>I just find it amazing people have to be accessible 24/7. Is going an hour without talking to or texting a friend that hard?</p>
Personally, I think it's insanely disrespectful and stupid, but hell, it's their money they're wasting on that class, and no, most people aren't as good as multitasking as they think. As long as people aren't bothering me or the class though, they can do whatever the hell they want, and I won't bother them.
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<p>Great answer and I love the libertarianism.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, I’m still shocked that some people think it’s not rude to text in class, but to quote John Stuart Mill, “The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.”</p>