My response: ‘Don’t be such a wuss. Assert what you think is the case, if you are wrong don’t worry, someone will tell you!’

My response: ‘but, the meek will inherit the earth!’

Kidding aside, I agree with that basic point. Whenever you state something, “I think” or “I feel” is implied. And education these days has a lot of wuss to it. I heard somewhere that while the literacy rate in the US has gone up over time, the complex literacy rate (whatever that is) in the US has gone down. Incidentally, when I was an undergrad I switched from english to philosophy mostly because of wishy-washy/touchy-feely profs. I didn’t have that problem with the CS department. Vicki Allen in particular wields the staff (brilliant lady).

I had a friend who got a paper back from Charlie once that said “D, Nice Try”. True story. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t just being lazy either, I think he really did try on that paper.

I also appreciate it when a prof can look at a student’s attempt to actually learn vs. a student’s attempt to jump through the correct hoops to get the relevant piece of paper.