Legacy Magazine

by Alan Leftridge

Nicole frowned. I could see her displeasure with unfolding events.

“What are you thinking?”

She declared, “The guide has lost control; he has turned his presentation over to the audience. I guess that is easy to do when not sure of your material.”

We blended into the bulk of tourists and followed the guide toward the next stop, Crystal Lake. Soon, we broke into a meadow and one of the visitors spoke out, “Look, a field of lovely purple flowers.” The interpreter halted and turned toward the group and said, “As beautiful as the flowers appear, they do not belong here. These are spotted knapweed, an exotic plant whose seeds were accidently brought into the country from Europe in the late 1800s. The knapweed crowds out native species because it is poisonous to other plants, allowing the weed to spread rapidly in open fields.”

A visitor declared, “I think the seeds came here as stuffing in the saddles of conquistadors. It got released when the saddles tore open.”

“Yes. Yes…yes,” echoed throughout the group, as some people who had heard a similar story openly agreed.

Another visitor observed, “The meadow is completely covered, the knapweed has taken over.”

The interpreter replied, “Like many exotics, it does not have a natural control—nothing eats it, and no fungus kills it. The knapweed crowds out the native plants.”

“It’s an example of Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest,’” a person to the right declared.

“Exactly,” said the guide.

I could see by the head nods that most everyone in the group agreed—except for Nicole and me. Looking my way, she said, “That does it, I’ve got to say something.” Addressing everyone, she broke in with, “Excuse me, but Darwin did not coin the phrase “survival of the fittest,” Herbert Spencer introduced it. He extended Darwin’s theory of natural selection into realms of sociology and ethics. Survival of the fittest was used to justify Social Darwinism.” The guide looked blank, and by the sound of shuffling feet I could tell the group was ready to move on to Crystal Lake. The matter was dropped, but Nicole remained agitated.

We lagged behind the group absorbed in our thoughts when she muttered, “Knapweed seeds in conquistadors’ saddles, ‘survival of the fittest,’ they are just sharing the ignorance.”

I laughed, for I had not heard that phrase applied for several years. I recalled hearing it when I was still teaching in academia and as a member of the university-wide curriculum committee, we approved new class applications. Courses were proposed in traditional instructional formats: lectures, lecture/discussions, labs, recitations, fieldwork experiences, or seminars. Committee members had a strong bias against seminars—a process that relied on the students providing much of the content under the leadership of a faculty member. In practice, little-involved or less-concerned faculty would allow students to run the classes. The students would provide virtually all the instruction, based on their explorations of the topics. Sharing their findings was effective when the students were knowledgeable and expressive; when not, they were “sharing the ignorance.” This is what Nicole was responding to, the spreading of information that has not been vetted.

What encourages spreading misinformation? One trait is our desire to accept statements made by family, friends, and colleagues as fact, because we hold those people in high regard. Another is our dependence on the Internet. Online encyclopedias and dedicated websites may not be subject to peer review or authoritative examination. Misinformation abounds. Also, the proliferation of cable and satellite TV stations that depend on entertainment for news programs do not always provide reality. This is accentuated by the trend towards dogmatic TV and radio news programs. Programs that are founded on fundamental biases eclipse their ability to report evenhanded information. Finally, and perhaps most notable, is our inability to apply critical-thinking skills when confronted with additional information. The pace of our society does not inspire us to evaluate the quality of the knowledge we receive. We have little time to process information and determine its value. As a result, we often turn to information sources to which we are devoted, and ignore the breadth and extent of multiple resources.

What must we do to assure that we are providing accurate interpretation? Certainly, we cannot conduct empirical research on every issue. However, we can be scholars in our own resource area. We can seek credible sources of information and use critical-thinking skills to rebuff misinformation. The public deserves programs, websites, panels, and exhibits crafted by authorities of their resources, and interpreters with excellent communications skills. Otherwise, we might just be sharing the ignorance.

Alan Leftridge is a contract interpretive trainer, visitor services trainer, and interpretive writer based out of the Swan Valley of Montana. Contact him at www.leftridge.com.