Praying for answers = cheating?

[1137]

A professor is overseeing the final for his philosophy of religion class. He notices that one of his students has their pen down, they have their hands over their face, and they are not paying attention to the test in any recognizable way. He goes to the student and asks if the student is ok. The student says, "yes sir, I was simply praying to God to help me answer the question". The professor takes the test and rips in half. In horror, the student exclaims, " why did you do that?!" The professor responds that, "asking for help on tests is cheating, and cheating is an automatic zero."

Thoughts? Reactions? Discussion?

Edit: This is a paraphrased example from "A Brief History of the Paradox" by Roy Sorensen

 

[ChristineES]

What that professor did was totally uncalled for.

 

[1137]

What that professor did was totally uncalled for.

What's your reasoning?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Because it is a philosophy class, I can see it being justified. What's the difference between asking god and asking a friend? Ripping up the paper is uncool, but so is trying to give yourself an unfair advantage.

 

[1137]

Because it is a philosophy class, I can see it being justified. What's the difference between asking god and asking a friend? Ripping up the paper is uncool, but so is trying to give yourself an unfair advantage.

What would you think if it had been a math or English class? Does your point of it being similar to asking a friend and having an unfair advantage hold, in your opinion?

 

[columbus]

What that professor did was totally uncalled for.

I agree. If the professor believed that praying would get a test answer he should have been more respectful. But then flunked the student if the test was imperfect in any way. If he didn't think praying was an unfair advantage then his reaction was totally uncalled for.

Unless of course, the test was on "The Power of Prayer".

Tom

 

[1137]

I agree. If the professor believed that praying would get a test answer he should have been more respectful. But then flunked the student if the test was imperfect in any way. If he didn't think praying was an unfair advantage then his reaction was totally uncalled for.

Unless of course, the test was on "The Power of Prayer".

Tom

Is it really important what the professor believes? I think it's more important what the student believes.

 

[Quintessence]

Is it really important what the professor believes? I think it's more important what the student believes.

Why? The student isn't the one who sets the standards for the class or grades the papers.

 

[1137]

Why? The student isn't the one who sets the standards for the class or grades the papers.

The student is the one with the intent to cheat, though, is he or she not? The professor can never send text messages, but he'll still fail you if you're texting a friend for answers. It's also irrelevant if god actually responds or even exist, just like if you try and catch a glimpse of your neighbors paper and fail to see the answer, you can still be failed for trying to cheat.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Why? The student isn't the one who sets the standards for the class or grades the papers.

Because normally, intent matters.

If the student had tried to use a two-way radio to get help from a friend, should he be punished?

Does the answer to this question depend on whether the radio turned out to be broken?

 

[columbus]

Is it really important what the professor believes? I think it's more important what the student believes.

Well, since your hypothetical situation is about a philosophy of religion class you might have a point. Quints point is valid in any other course of study.

In religious education all bets are off. None of it is objective, it's all opinions of preference anyway.

Tom

 

[1137]

Well, since your hypothetical situation is about a philosophy of religion class you might have a point. Quints point is valid in any other course of study.

In religious education all bets are off. None of it is objective, it's all opinions of preference anyway.

Tom

If you were to ask god for answers on a math test the professor's reaction would be just as valid. Cheating is cheating no matter what class. We don't say you can't cheat by googling answers in psychology but you can in biology.

 

[Quintessence]

Eh, the instructor holds the authority in the classroom. We can talk about whether or not intent matters and all of the other stuff, but at the end of the day, it's the instructor's class and the instructor's call and responsibility. If the instructor's way of running their classroom is problematic, that will be dealt with later on down the line with performance reviews and the like by the administration.

I know, I'm making things boring by turning it into a practical matter.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This question reminds me of something that's occurred to me before:

- if someone calls up a hit man (or even someone he thinks is a hit man but isn't) and asks him to kill a person, he could be convicted of attempted murder.

- if someone prays for the death of another person, it's not a crime at all.

The only way I can reconcile these two things is to assume that the law figures that prayer can't reasonably be expected to actually be effective.

 

[columbus]

The student is the one with the intent to cheat, though, is he or she not? The professor can never send text messages, but he'll still fail you if you're texting a friend for answers. It's also irrelevant if god actually responds or even exist, just like if you try and catch a glimpse of your neighbors paper and fail to see the answer, you can still be failed for trying to cheat.

Oh now we're talking about mechanics and intentions.


If God could be counted on to provide needful information in the real world I will would consider praying a resource. But since God is just as likely to withhold information or give wrong information as chance, praying is not cheating on tests.

Praying for the stamina to complete the studying isn't either. The question is only "does it work?".

Tom

 

[Shadow Wolf]

What would you think if it had been a math or English class? Does your point of it being similar to asking a friend and having an unfair advantage hold, in your opinion?

With math, though the question of differences hold, it to me just doesn't seem to be the subject to make such a point as math is about performing and orderly and logical function. To get worked up over someone asking god for help seems to go against the "logical" part of mathematics. English I suppose could be a place to make such a point, and rant about being prepared and ready for a quiz, though I don't know if I could fail a student. Philosophy, on the other hand, can be a very cruel, merciless, cold and unforgiving teacher that seems to specialize in dealing foundation crumbling revelations that build character. In this case, what is the difference? Personally I wouldn't have failed a student, but it would have been fun to scare.

 

[1137]

This question reminds me of something that's occurred to me before:

- if someone calls up a hit man (or even someone he thinks is a hit man but isn't) and asks him to kill a person, he could be convicted of attempted murder.

- if someone prays for the death of another person, it's not a crime at all.

The only way I can reconcile these two things is to assume that the law figures that prayer can't reasonably be expected to actually be effective.

It could be the mindset that God is above the law. Perhaps if god kills or gives an answer then there's nothing to do. We can't affect god, he makes his own choices. If he chooses to kill or help cheat then nothing can be done because god cant be questioned?

Oh now we're talking about mechanics and intentions.


If God could be counted on to provide needful information in the real world I will would consider praying a resource. But since God is just as likely to withhold information or give wrong information as chance, praying is not cheating on tests.

Praying for the stamina to complete the studying isn't either. The question is only "does it work?".

Tom

Not necessarily. You can cheat and still get an incorrect answer. If you've marked B when the answer is C, and I look at your paper because I believe you're likely to know the answer when I'm just guessing, I've both cheated and gotten the wrong answer. Likewise, if I ask you for the answer and you either deny me or plain ignore me I have still tried to cheat.

 

[columbus]

If you were to ask god for answers on a math test the professor's reaction would be just as valid. Cheating is cheating no matter what class. We don't say you can't cheat by googling answers in psychology but you can in biology.

Praying is qualitatively different from googling. If praying were a reliable source of information I'd be all about it.
But something I've noticed is that higher education has a way of weeding out people who rely on God for answers.

Tom

 

[1137]

Praying is qualitatively different from googling. If praying were a reliable source of information I'd be all about it.
But something I've noticed is that higher education has a way of weeding out people who rely on God for answers.

Tom

You can get wrong / contradicting answers from Google.

 

[nash8]

A professor is overseeing the final for his philosophy of religion class. He notices that one of his students has their pen down, they have their hands over their face, and they are not paying attention to the test in any recognizable way. He goes to the student and asks if the student is ok. The student says, "yes sir, I was simply praying to God to help me answer the question". The professor takes the test and rips in half. In horror, the student exclaims, " why did you do that?!" The professor responds that, "asking for help on tests is cheating, and cheating is an automatic zero."

Thoughts? Reactions? Discussion?

Edit: This is a paraphrased example from "A Brief History of the Paradox" by Roy Sorensen

I personally would be ****** cause I used to do that exact thing all the time, and more often than not it worked lol. Sometimes I would pray, and sometimes I would try to "intuitize" the answers while meditating on my 3rd eye chakra. Usually it would be a little combination of both, but I cant count how many times I passed tests I had no business passing using this approach lol.