tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post7888383205044896675..comments2024-03-03T04:40:39.492-05:00Comments on Fire Megan McArdle: I have to stop being shocked by herbradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-41906642244393592312007-10-15T23:09:00.000-04:002007-10-15T23:09:00.000-04:00Re: Brian's biting wit; *insert Paul Reuben's deat...Re: Brian's biting wit; *insert Paul Reuben's death scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer here*bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-3464999079037370132007-10-15T20:35:00.000-04:002007-10-15T20:35:00.000-04:00Yeah, of course there's a tendency towards liberal...<I>Yeah, of course there's a tendency towards liberalism, but that comes with having a mindset oriented towards an informed, accurate, expansive world view. Movement conservatives today take ignorance and a closed mind as virtues. The respective natures of higher learning and movement conservatism are currently in opposition. But I'm just being tribal.</I><BR/><BR/>Ya think? Dumb as a box of rocks would work, too.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463559613496117541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-75907534793717478762007-10-12T23:27:00.000-04:002007-10-12T23:27:00.000-04:00Oh. My. God.Where to even begin? I'm wrapping up m...Oh. My. God.<BR/><BR/>Where to even begin? I'm wrapping up my Ph.D. work these days, and all I can say is that if this is an accurate portrayal of Megan's idea of how academia works, she must have slept through grad school.<BR/><BR/><I>Unless they are really, really brilliant, academics, like everyone else, need personal connections to help them up the academic ladder, from recommendations to mentors to advisors. Those personal connections are always much easier to make with people you agree with.</I><BR/><BR/>Errrrm, this <I>may</I> be true in fields like sociology or anthropology (and I am in no way conceding that it is, only that it's possible), but it certainly isn't true for my field (a different social science). Further, it does nothing to explain a lack of conservatives in the "hard" sciences - at what point would one's personal politics even enter into a physics dissertation, for example?<BR/><BR/><I>Nor would I discount the possibility that, just as women's work can be subtly dismissed because we know women aren't as bright as men, academics who think that conservatives are stupid would factor that into their assessment of someone's intelligence--and then factor that assessment into their assessment of someone's work.</I><BR/><BR/>Unless someone's work is explicitly political, a hiring committee would generally not know of an applicant's personal politics, nor would they care. Ultimately, they are looking for two things in a potential hire: the ability to bring in grant dollars and the ability to get along with their colleagues. That last <I>doesn't</I> mean "agree with their colleagues on every conceivable political issue." What it means is considering whether a particular candidate is likely to be an obnoxious dick. Megan seems to be conceding that one cannot be a conservative academic without being an obnoxious dick, but I will allow that this might be a misunderstanding stemming from her shortcomings as a writer.<BR/><BR/><I>And the idea that academia exerts no pressures to conform is spectacularly hilarious to anyone who's ever spent any time at all around academics.</I><BR/><BR/>She's right about this. Having spent a significant amount of time in an economics department, I can tell you that faculty who do not hew a generally conservative (or neo-liberal) line are generally disregarded and dismissed, and often have a great deal of difficulty getting recognition for their work.<BR/><BR/>Oh, wait - she was talking about bias <I>against</I> conservatives? Sorry, never mind.Fishbone McGoniglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10296472885854104262noreply@blogger.com