The True Believer
The True Believer When he published The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, social thinker Eric Hoffer sought to explain exactly what inspires people to commit themselves passionately to causes defined by their unyielding belief. Like Hoffer, we will examine not only what has motivated individuals over time to join extremist social, political, and religious movements, but also the psychologies of those who have led them throughout history. We will try to determine precisely who the true believer is, and whether true belief is generally of greater benefit or harm to the believer and to broader society.
The course structure: read one book a week, meet twice a week to respond to a page of discussion, two 3-5 paged papers + one 10-12 pages final paper + final exam, and close to no lecturing/teaching. The professor is mostly there to observe and occasional guide the discussion. The reading content is highly valuable and insightful for those interested in human nature and philosophy.
We read a book every week. it is very fast-paced for a first year seminar. The reading takes a long time. All classes were discussions. Wyatt did not really gave his take on the material and was there to mostly guide discussions.