When Harvard announced Monday that Oprah Winfrey will deliver this year’s commencement address, much of the focus was on her celebrity: When two of the world’s biggest brands finally meet, would she overshadow the event?
But a more substantive concern came from longtime Harvard figure Harry Lewis. A professor of computer science who also served as dean of Harvard College, Lewis looked beyond Oprah’s success to the actual ideas touted on her show, and on Monday wrote sharply on his blog that Harvard has no business inviting—and (presumably) awarding an honorary degree to—a “major purveyor of pseudoscience.”
Comments
The good news for Harvard is that Oprah Winfrey is no longer wildly popular as the author suggests.
Well, there is a famous video in which Harvard students at their commencement fail to correctly answer a question about why the Earth has seasons. I certainly agree with Mr. Lewis' concerns, we shall see if his students are actually sophisticated enough to understand his criticism of Ms. Winfrey's goofy and dangerous take on reality.