Education, combined with responsible legislators, judges, and journalists, should protect us against nonsense and ignorance. When these fall by the wayside society suffers.
Thank you for this piece of fine writing. Because, beginning back in the nineties, I could not understand what the proponents of post-modernism were actually saying , I have been confused as to its definition ever since. Would you consider discussing how a word is MERELY the arbitrary name of some thing, but is not the thing itself? For example if I use the word rape, my use of the word does not mean it is the same as rape. Could this human tendency help explain the disdain for facts and the extolling of opinions?
I understand and agree with the overall ideas of your piece, but I still feel uncomfortable by some of the way you express them. As a (white) woman born in the previous century in Greece, it did not matter how qualified I was for me to gain entry or position in academia. I only succeeded because of a blinded University entrance examination (in Greece), and later because of affirmative action in the US.
I was more qualified than the other candidates (judging from future performances ), but my resume would have been likely discarded without affirmative action: only resumes of students of professors who were well regarded (i.e. friends) of the examining committee were pulled out of the heap, and they were white males! How do I know? Because later, as a professor myself and member of an advisory committee for hiring I saw it first hand for many years! I had to pull out resumes of qualified women candidates and pass them around from professor to professor to overcome “benign neglect”.
Things have improved tremendously in this regard, but still the number of women in STEM academic positions lags behind their enrollment. And this reminds of the other historical fact: for thousands of years, including in classical Greece, women were confined to breeding, cooking and weaving, and were not allowed education. No wonder then that the marvel of western civilization is due to men! Women, of course, are catching up, except in the “breeding” arena. The burden of raising the excellent men (and now women) still falls on the BODY of women, physically and mentally.
I cannot speak for black people, but in America the burden they carry is also historical. By the way, in ancient Greece you could be a slave regardless of race. You were born slave or you were captured in war. The labor of slaves and women enabled the likes of Plato and Socrates to philosophize in the Agora!
I hope you agree that legitimate grievances have led to programs like DEI, even though in some cases the pendulum swung too far. But this is human nature.
I agree that there have been legitimate grievances, and supported diversity initiatives when I was Chair of physics dept from 1993-2005.. My point is that these needed initiatives started in the States over 30 years ago, and now things are already implemented so that women's CV's don't get lost in the mix. We don't need the DEI police getting in the way right now because what they are requiring is draconian. I do appreciate your note very much, and I applaud your own efforts to move forward in spite of the obstacles.
I am really curious how the world and society will evolve within the next decade. And as you mention Lawrence, the signs are currently not very promising. Thankfully, we have people like you that are able to reach out to a large audience helping us to find the right facts in our next discussion with the people that are not already close-minded. Hopefully we can somehow reach a critical mass soon such that we reach a tipping point that sets us back on a promising track. I am an example for this potential of mind change regarding the use of nuclear power. Before watching your podcasts and talking to you in the Q&As, I was a complete opponent of this kind of energy generation, but my opinion has changed. I listened to your's and other podcast with trustworthy scientists and researched some data. All fits together making me now a proponent of nuclear power. Also, when I heard last week that there a fungi able to use nuclear radiation as source of energy, I was really astounded.
I wonder if we are approaching a New Dark Age where ignorance claims the day?
Thank you for this piece of fine writing. Because, beginning back in the nineties, I could not understand what the proponents of post-modernism were actually saying , I have been confused as to its definition ever since. Would you consider discussing how a word is MERELY the arbitrary name of some thing, but is not the thing itself? For example if I use the word rape, my use of the word does not mean it is the same as rape. Could this human tendency help explain the disdain for facts and the extolling of opinions?
good point.. I once referred to the saying we all said as a kid.. Sticks and Stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
I understand and agree with the overall ideas of your piece, but I still feel uncomfortable by some of the way you express them. As a (white) woman born in the previous century in Greece, it did not matter how qualified I was for me to gain entry or position in academia. I only succeeded because of a blinded University entrance examination (in Greece), and later because of affirmative action in the US.
I was more qualified than the other candidates (judging from future performances ), but my resume would have been likely discarded without affirmative action: only resumes of students of professors who were well regarded (i.e. friends) of the examining committee were pulled out of the heap, and they were white males! How do I know? Because later, as a professor myself and member of an advisory committee for hiring I saw it first hand for many years! I had to pull out resumes of qualified women candidates and pass them around from professor to professor to overcome “benign neglect”.
Things have improved tremendously in this regard, but still the number of women in STEM academic positions lags behind their enrollment. And this reminds of the other historical fact: for thousands of years, including in classical Greece, women were confined to breeding, cooking and weaving, and were not allowed education. No wonder then that the marvel of western civilization is due to men! Women, of course, are catching up, except in the “breeding” arena. The burden of raising the excellent men (and now women) still falls on the BODY of women, physically and mentally.
I cannot speak for black people, but in America the burden they carry is also historical. By the way, in ancient Greece you could be a slave regardless of race. You were born slave or you were captured in war. The labor of slaves and women enabled the likes of Plato and Socrates to philosophize in the Agora!
I hope you agree that legitimate grievances have led to programs like DEI, even though in some cases the pendulum swung too far. But this is human nature.
I agree that there have been legitimate grievances, and supported diversity initiatives when I was Chair of physics dept from 1993-2005.. My point is that these needed initiatives started in the States over 30 years ago, and now things are already implemented so that women's CV's don't get lost in the mix. We don't need the DEI police getting in the way right now because what they are requiring is draconian. I do appreciate your note very much, and I applaud your own efforts to move forward in spite of the obstacles.
Thanks.
I am really curious how the world and society will evolve within the next decade. And as you mention Lawrence, the signs are currently not very promising. Thankfully, we have people like you that are able to reach out to a large audience helping us to find the right facts in our next discussion with the people that are not already close-minded. Hopefully we can somehow reach a critical mass soon such that we reach a tipping point that sets us back on a promising track. I am an example for this potential of mind change regarding the use of nuclear power. Before watching your podcasts and talking to you in the Q&As, I was a complete opponent of this kind of energy generation, but my opinion has changed. I listened to your's and other podcast with trustworthy scientists and researched some data. All fits together making me now a proponent of nuclear power. Also, when I heard last week that there a fungi able to use nuclear radiation as source of energy, I was really astounded.