University of Virginia Library

Less And Dull

It came to pass one cold and
ominous winter in an academic
village at the University that a great
controversy arose concerning degree
accreditation for ROTC
courses. Great men came to make
proposals. Some were from the
Department of Government and
Foreign Affairs and they had their
Ph.D.s. Another was from the
Department of Music and he also
had his Ph.D. Two Moore Breit men
came from the Department of
Economics and they too had their
Ph.D.s. They were Messrs. Less and
Dull. These men knew, as most all
men who have attained their Ph.D.s
know, that they knew all there was
to know about everything and that
therefore they could make great
decisions without debate or investigation
or evaluation. The proposals
offered by the men from the
Department of Government and
Foreign Affairs and of Music were
not accepted by a great forum of
intellectuals that had come to vote
on a solution. But the proposal
made by Messrs. Less and Dull from
the Department of Economics was
accepted and some people rejoiced
in that academic village for that day
was thought to be a victory for
truth, reason, and democracy.
Moral: When great men make great
decisions without debate or investigation
or evaluation, little men loss
faith and trust in their teachers and
some come to know that great
minds are sometimes really very
little minds.