Outrage Culture - College edition

[Bu🤠ns]

Feelings have no place in the pursuit of knowledge (except in psychology where they may sometimes be appropriate as the subject of detached observation)

That's not exactly true, if it's true at all; there is plenty of room for feelings in academia. The very best academics and researchers are passionate about their work, and many of them come to it from a personal experience that motivates them, like the MS researcher whose college best friend had MS, or the AIDS vaccine developer whose adopted daughter was born with HIV. What there isn't room for is self-indulgent bullshit.

This, then, is what really creeps me out--that self-indulgent bullshit and feelings are taken as the same thing.  When did tumblr take over our classrooms?

Granted, I haven't been to college in a long time, so I can't /really/ say.

[Bu🤠ns]

<snip>
Science classes are the fucking best, because you either study your ass off and do shit right or you don't. There is no discussion. There is no appeal to emotion. What are you going to say, "electron behavior hurts my feelings"? No.
</snip>

This part literally made me laugh out loud.

[Bu🤠ns]

Not as depressing as I anticipated. "Nothing to do now but sit on our hands...and wait for the inevitable conservative backlash," was pretty on the nose.

I don't even know if it will be a conservative backlash, as he seems to be mistaking special snowflake syndrome for a phenomenon exclusive to liberal brats. Professors who teach at expensive private colleges have been complaining about it for a lot longer.

I think that's definitely a big part of it, and the move towards steadily more privatised education has led to the impression that schools are service providers not educators, and that the student as customer is always right.

However, I remember reading this guy's blog post from when he first put it up, and those by Freddie de Boer as well.  And I think their criticisms are a bit more subtle than that.  From what I can see, based on their writing, there are seperate problems which come together in particular in schools.  There is the liberal-rhetorical problem: most public liberals have incredibly weak rhetoric and verbal skills, and tend to rely on shutting down debate via the "I Win" button of accusations of sexism, homophobia, racism, "problematic", prejudicial etc.  And then there is the neoliberalisation of schools problem.  The two meet at a point because it's incredibly attractive for students to use discourse that originated in the academy, validates their complaints and allows little in way of dissent precisely because they are spoilt brats.  But they're spoilt brats operating within this particular discourse, at this particular time, because said discourse is very popular outside of the staid and traditional social conservative or libertarian conservative circles, and because they've learnt it works.

I was wondering what you perspective was having seen it first hand.  That's really frightening because it seems like they're just learning to be mouthpieces rather than ... well..thinking for themselves.

[Bu🤠ns]

I don't know what it's like from a professor's perspective, but I do know that most of my fellow students are fucktards and that I hate being a TA with a burning passion.

oh you're a TA?  oh shit. i missed this part. Sorry to hear, Nigel.

[The Johnny]

Feelings have no place in the pursuit of knowledge (except in psychology where they may sometimes be appropriate as the subject of detached observation)

That's not exactly true, if it's true at all; there is plenty of room for feelings in academia. The very best academics and researchers are passionate about their work, and many of them come to it from a personal experience that motivates them, like the MS researcher whose college best friend had MS, or the AIDS vaccine developer whose adopted daughter was born with HIV. What there isn't room for is self-indulgent bullshit.

"Feelings" are an intricate part of the pursuit of knowledge... without passion or a love for a given craft... why delve deeper into it or innovate?

Without feelings comes indifference, and with indifference comes nothing.

[Dubya]

Okay, but lets please to distinguish between feelings (read: superfluous butthurt) and passion.

While emotions can give you drive, they cant be allowed to steer. Not when it comes to the actual process of education. College in particular used to be about broadening your horizons. Thats tje rationale behind all the extra classes you have to take not directly related to your major in order to get a degree. Its not necessarily a comfortable process and it shouldn't be

[Ben Shapiro]

We need to nurture the special snowflakes IMO. For science and for the lawls!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Science classes are the fucking best, because you either study your ass off and do shit right or you don't. There is no discussion. There is no appeal to emotion. What are you going to say, "electron behavior hurts my feelings"? No.

You underestimate my whiny entitled tumblr millenial powers.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Not as depressing as I anticipated. "Nothing to do now but sit on our hands...and wait for the inevitable conservative backlash," was pretty on the nose.

I don't even know if it will be a conservative backlash, as he seems to be mistaking special snowflake syndrome for a phenomenon exclusive to liberal brats. Professors who teach at expensive private colleges have been complaining about it for a lot longer.

I think that's definitely a big part of it, and the move towards steadily more privatised education has led to the impression that schools are service providers not educators, and that the student as customer is always right.

However, I remember reading this guy's blog post from when he first put it up, and those by Freddie de Boer as well.  And I think their criticisms are a bit more subtle than that.  From what I can see, based on their writing, there are seperate problems which come together in particular in schools.  There is the liberal-rhetorical problem: most public liberals have incredibly weak rhetoric and verbal skills, and tend to rely on shutting down debate via the "I Win" button of accusations of sexism, homophobia, racism, "problematic", prejudicial etc.  And then there is the neoliberalisation of schools problem.  The two meet at a point because it's incredibly attractive for students to use discourse that originated in the academy, validates their complaints and allows little in way of dissent precisely because they are spoilt brats.  But they're spoilt brats operating within this particular discourse, at this particular time, because said discourse is very popular outside of the staid and traditional social conservative or libertarian conservative circles, and because they've learnt it works.

A guy in my class had a temper tantrum today because he doesn't like that 70 years ago, psychology researchers did really shitty things to cats.

Not kidding.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

<snip>
Science classes are the fucking best, because you either study your ass off and do shit right or you don't. There is no discussion. There is no appeal to emotion. What are you going to say, "electron behavior hurts my feelings"? No.
</snip>

This part literally made me laugh out loud.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't know what it's like from a professor's perspective, but I do know that most of my fellow students are fucktards and that I hate being a TA with a burning passion.

oh you're a TA?  oh shit. i missed this part. Sorry to hear, Nigel.

Thank you. I can only hope that I'll be OK again, someday.

:thousand-yard stare:

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Okay, but lets please to distinguish between feelings (read: superfluous butthurt) and passion.

Actually, I think it's up to you to appropriately distinguish between superfluous butthurt and feelings, and apply language accordingly.

Not all feelings are passion, and not all feelings are butthurt, and that's why we have so many different words to describe things like emotions.

While emotions can give you drive, they cant be allowed to steer. Not when it comes to the actual process of education. College in particular used to be about broadening your horizons. Thats tje rationale behind all the extra classes you have to take not directly related to your major in order to get a degree. Its not necessarily a comfortable process and it shouldn't be

I agree with this completely. Learning is rarely comfortable, and learning outside of your original perspective can be downright painful.

[Don Coyote]

I don't know what it's like from a professor's perspective, but I do know that most of my fellow students are fucktards and that I hate being a TA with a burning passion.

oh you're a TA?  oh shit. i missed this part. Sorry to hear, Nigel.

Thank you. I can only hope that I'll be OK again, someday.

:thousand-yard stare:

something something trigger warnings something red pens something something grading

[The Johnny]

Not as depressing as I anticipated. "Nothing to do now but sit on our hands...and wait for the inevitable conservative backlash," was pretty on the nose.

I don't even know if it will be a conservative backlash, as he seems to be mistaking special snowflake syndrome for a phenomenon exclusive to liberal brats. Professors who teach at expensive private colleges have been complaining about it for a lot longer.

I think that's definitely a big part of it, and the move towards steadily more privatised education has led to the impression that schools are service providers not educators, and that the student as customer is always right.

However, I remember reading this guy's blog post from when he first put it up, and those by Freddie de Boer as well.  And I think their criticisms are a bit more subtle than that.  From what I can see, based on their writing, there are seperate problems which come together in particular in schools.  There is the liberal-rhetorical problem: most public liberals have incredibly weak rhetoric and verbal skills, and tend to rely on shutting down debate via the "I Win" button of accusations of sexism, homophobia, racism, "problematic", prejudicial etc.  And then there is the neoliberalisation of schools problem.  The two meet at a point because it's incredibly attractive for students to use discourse that originated in the academy, validates their complaints and allows little in way of dissent precisely because they are spoilt brats.  But they're spoilt brats operating within this particular discourse, at this particular time, because said discourse is very popular outside of the staid and traditional social conservative or libertarian conservative circles, and because they've learnt it works.

A guy in my class had a temper tantrum today because he doesn't like that 70 years ago, psychology researchers did really shitty things to cats.

Not kidding.

All of a sudden it was gone... FOREVER... my cat's penis. **sob**

[Dubya]

Not as depressing as I anticipated. "Nothing to do now but sit on our hands...and wait for the inevitable conservative backlash," was pretty on the nose.

I don't even know if it will be a conservative backlash, as he seems to be mistaking special snowflake syndrome for a phenomenon exclusive to liberal brats. Professors who teach at expensive private colleges have been complaining about it for a lot longer.

I think that's definitely a big part of it, and the move towards steadily more privatised education has led to the impression that schools are service providers not educators, and that the student as customer is always right.

However, I remember reading this guy's blog post from when he first put it up, and those by Freddie de Boer as well.  And I think their criticisms are a bit more subtle than that.  From what I can see, based on their writing, there are seperate problems which come together in particular in schools.  There is the liberal-rhetorical problem: most public liberals have incredibly weak rhetoric and verbal skills, and tend to rely on shutting down debate via the "I Win" button of accusations of sexism, homophobia, racism, "problematic", prejudicial etc.  And then there is the neoliberalisation of schools problem.  The two meet at a point because it's incredibly attractive for students to use discourse that originated in the academy, validates their complaints and allows little in way of dissent precisely because they are spoilt brats.  But they're spoilt brats operating within this particular discourse, at this particular time, because said discourse is very popular outside of the staid and traditional social conservative or libertarian conservative circles, and because they've learnt it works.

A guy in my class had a temper tantrum today because he doesn't like that 70 years ago, psychology researchers did really shitty things to cats.

Not kidding.

That bolded part there at the end. Superfluous butthurt.

Now if the cat enthusiast takes that butthurt and focuses it, and it sustains him through years of education, research and assorted other trials and tribulations in order to make science be kinder to kitties, then it has become passion. Because its no longer superfluous.