In this article, the author presents a trend in higher education wherein students assert their opinions immediately instead of mastering and reflecting first on a material being studied. The author presents a particular situation wherein a scholar of postmodern thought taught an honors seminar on the French philosopher Michel Foucault to a class of juniors. Twenty minutes into her explanation of his theory of discourse, one of the students sneered, "Well, that's his opinion. I don't agree." Here, he points out that the assertion and the attitude it embodies have become endemic, not only in society at large but in academe. He also talks about how this trend affects academe in ways that are not always immediately apparent.