Diagnose first, prescribe second. Change is threatening to many people and assessment represents change.
Amnesia is forgetfulness.
We forget our history, our academic culture, our goals, our reasons for wanting to do what we do. Fantasia is the fantasy that we can compensate for a poor foundation by building a nice superstructure on top of it, that, for example, we can correct for neglected introductory courses by dedicating ourselves to really good upper level ones. Inertia refers to inert ideas generated by professors who love to profess their beliefs but don't act on them for the good of the whole. Nostalgia is the notion that all new ideas are fads, that they will pass, and that if only things returned to the way they used to be, everything would be alright. Together, these four items prevent constructive change in the academic world.