patrick.net

"During my ‘Welcome Week’, for example, I was presented with a choice of badges indicating my preferred gender pronouns: ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘they’ or ‘ze’?

The student in front of me, an Australian, found this hilarious: ‘Last time I checked, I was a girl.’ Her joke was met with stony silence. Later I realised why: expressing bewilderment at the obsession with pronouns might count as a ‘micro-aggression’. Next stop, ‘transphobia’."

The badge should read: "Tuition Payer, call yourself whatever the fuck you want for your underwater basket weaving courses".

Among all professors, the study found a Democrat to Republican to ratio of 11.5 to 1. Broken down by field, the results are even more depressing. Top history departments have a ratio of 33.5 to 1. Journalism and psychology are also extremely lacking in intellectual diversity, with ratios of 20 to 1 and 17.4 to 1, respectively. Law schools have a ratio of 8.6 to 1, while economics departments are the least skewed, at 4.5 to 1.

Hearing both sides of an argument is essential to learning and forming opinions. “One-sided ideological orientation leads to one-sided teaching, which leads to intolerance of alternative views,” write Langbert and Klein in an e-mail to me.“The ability to disagree requires practice, but neither students nor their professors practice balanced disagreement in universities, because faculty meetings are increasingly held in halls of mirrors.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441711/leftist-academia-democrats-rule-trend-increasing
No diversity of thought.

Patrick says

No diversity of thought.

"Don't expect to much & one won't be disappointed."

Now that's funny!

Patrick says

Among all professors, the study found a Democrat to Republican to ratio of 11.5 to 1.

Did the study say why republicans aren't smart enough to be colllege professors?

Patrick says

No diversity of thought.

Affirmative action for ideas is a terrible idea. Evangelicals can set the curriculum in church. The university should teach critical thought, and the ability to debate rationally and converse politely. It should not make sure that all ideas across society are represented equally.

Patrick says

extremely lacking in intellectual diversity

They're lacking political diversity, not intellectual.

bob2356 says

Did the study say why republicans aren't smart enough to be colllege professors?

Those that can Do those that can't get mental issues and get in education to exact revenge on their Dad for the millions of social issues he blames his father for.

YesYNot says

The university should teach critical thought, and the ability to debate rationally and converse politely. It should not make sure that all ideas across society are represented equally.

I absolutely agree with you.

But universities are teaching compliance with the established orthodoxy, not the ability to debate rationally, and certainly not the ability to converse politely. All dissenting opinions will be shouted down, and violence and car burning may ensue.

The reason this is funny is because it's so true:

http://www.theonion.com/article/college-encourages-lively-exchange-of-idea-38496

Patrick says

All dissenting opinions will be shouted down, and violence and car burning may ensue.

I agree that this is generally happening - at least many dissenting opinions are being shouted down. But it is not the majority who are doing the shouting, it seems that it is a loud minority who is probably being taught to protest this way. Isn't the majority still peacefully communicating?

It's been a while since I was taking any contentious classes at a University, but the time when this issue came up, the vast majority were very polite. It was a very popular class on evolution, which was in a hall with 1 to 2K students. There was a debate with a few student participants, and one wanted to argue against evolution, so he stood up in front of over 1K fellow students to make his creationist points. Nearly everyone in the room thought he was a brainwashed fool (they were there to learn about evolutionary theory, not a creationist narrative), but they listened and had a debate. Nobody shouted him down.

The shouting seems to happen when there is speech that is inflammatory/insulting towards some minorities. That speech is 'racist' or 'bigoted' in so far as it can have a negative impact on the the minorities in question, which is one definition. There are as many definitions of racism as there are rape, so it's kind of pointless to argue whether x,y,or z is racist without first defining the term. Even back in the 90s, the definition that I'm referring to was often discussed. Even if we assume that the speech in question is 'bigoted' by some definition, the correct response is not to shout it out or use vigilante violence. The world is not a 100% safe space in terms of having your feelings hurt, and college should be about having your comfort limits tested and pushed. I'm sure that we can agree on that.

On the other hand, the average Republican viewpoint is simply not going to be expressed on a University campus. Republicans and Christianity go hand in hand these days (evangelicals for Trump), and you are not going to find religious viewpoints on campus. Teaching faith is not compatible with a scientific or liberal arts education. It is expressed fully at Liberty University, however, which is set up for this type of thing. There are as many options as there is demand for that type of education. Religious people should be able to go to a liberal arts college and express their viewpoint, but they should not expect it to be accepted by a majority of students or faculty. There are aspects of Republican thought, that have nothing to do with religion and make for interesting study. Most of those have to do with economics, and feedback effects of how human behavior is changed through policy. So, it's no surprise that you have more Republicans teaching economics than other sciences or liberal arts.

Yea if highly religious Right Wing Republicans can't teach alternate History and alternate Science, FREEDOM! Has no meaning.

Lol

The world was created by jeebus ten thousand years ago, god created man, we all devolved from monkeys etc. etc.

The problem isn't so much that a few "leftist " twits are shouting down any opposing ideas.

The problem is that the Uber Conservative Christian Right doesn't have any ideas.

That's why many people such as myself enjoyed Trumps antics in the primary. He'd basically tell the failed losers that were regurgitating the same tired nonsense to STFU. Rightfully so. Trump was the first Liberal to stamp out the so called free speech of the Right. They keep complaining that they can't have their ideas heard but they simply don't have any ideas worth hearing for the umpteenth time. It's also why HeritageFoundationCare is still alive and well.

Guns! God! Country!
Git the brown people! They're taking my good lettuce picking job!

errc says

The problem isn't so much that a few "leftist " twits are shouting down any opposing ideas

It's exactly the problem.

errc says

The problem is that the Uber Conservative Christian Right doesn't have any ideas

It's the left that has no new ideas. "Progressivism" is the same hatred based on class theme of the past 100 years.

P N Dr Lo R says

I was presented with a choice of badges indicating my preferred gender pronouns: he, she, or ze?

This is the gist of their "new" ideas, remaking human beings into this smorgasbord of Mak-Ur-Own identities to add as many groups of victims in their identity politics as possible.

College now consists of four years of being twitchy and offended, upon which you are granted a gold star diploma to try that strategy out in the real world.

bob2356 says

Did the study say why republicans aren't smart enough to be colllege professors?

No, but it did say: "He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches."

P N Dr Lo R says

P N Dr Lo R says

I was presented with a choice of badges indicating my preferred gender pronouns: he, she, or ze?

No "IT"?