#academic rigor

[sleeplessphantom-0]

I just had 2 midterms today

Calculus 2 and Computer Science

Fuck me

#midterms #school #university #calculus #computer science #academic rigor

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Anything ending in “Studies” is unserious and should be kept at the kiddie table with a juice box and plastic bowl of alphaghetti.

Because they’re political activist movements hiding out on college campuses and masquerading as scholarship, not actual academic domains of legitimate inquiry, thoughtful exploration and evidence-based conclusions.

#The Woke Temple #decolonize STEM #grievance studies #identity studies #academic fraud #luxury beliefs #decolonize science #decolonize #everything is racist #academic rigor #wokeness as religion #cult of woke #woke activism #wokeism #woke #activism #political activism #religion is a mental illness

[gwmac]

PhD vs. EdD: The Undeniable Supremacy of the PhD over EdD

PhD vs. EdD: The Academic Showdown You Didn’t Know You Needed The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and the Doctor of Education (EdD) represent the pinnacle of academic achievement in their respective disciplines. However, salient differences exist between the two degrees in terms of legacy, purpose, structure, reputation, and rigor. This essay undertakes a thorough comparative analysis to argue that…

View On WordPress

#academic achievement #academic alternatives #academic consciousness #academic distinction #academic durability #academic gravity #academic hierarchy #academic horizons #academic investment #academic lineage #academic longevity #academic niche #academic objectives #academic oversight #academic perceptions #academic reputation #academic rigor #academic roots #academic standards #academic superiority #academic thirst #admission standards #career considerations #comprehensive colleges #curricular rigor #curriculum #curriculum emphasis #degree alternatives #degree challenges #degree comparison

[orwellsunderpants]

some folks don't understand that academic rigor is not an excuse to abuse people and it shows

#education #abuse #academic rigor #is a crock

[istherewifiinhell]

IS FLYING GENDERED? On the masculine default, typifying gender in genre, and women as the other in the transformers cartoons.

question for the ages

once again i said back in the halcyon days of watching g1 (aka 5 months ago) i was like. Nooooo, decepticon is NOT a gender that's Silly. It's funny, but as a Read Of The Text, I thought it largely unneeded. (The concept came about, as a joke, involving dismissing the bad guys using the same language you would abt women (sexistly) that they're emotional [heh, flighty], vain, and shrill) after all. If in the 80s era there are 5 whole named/speaking woman tfs, its only ever gonna get better from here right? (<- booboo the fool)

anyway

Let's consider the axiom that the assumed default gender is male, that maleness is often seen as LACK of gender, and femaleness and gender variance are the PRESENCE of gender. In certain reasoning and worldviews, of course (See Androcentrism). Then add that, for transformers, the assumed default thing a transformer turns into, is car. (Autocentrism, if you will)

(The most general term for what a tf turns into is "Alt mode" as some of them are not vehicles at all. The other mode is "Robot Mode", whether its humanoid or not)

So I will be laying out why I believe the cartoon iterations support: non standard alt modes = non standard genders. This is in spite of the fact that FIRST lady tfs were all cars. Sleek cyber cars, but still. For whatever reason, (possibly, the reason for everything in tf, toys) they might as well not exist for how woman tf characters presence in the cartoons progressed over time.

And, to be clear, this is a reading of how these works of fiction are created, not a new unified bioessentialism but for robots aliens I'm proposing for like. In universe lore reasons. I hate that idea.

That said, alt modes in order of most to least gender: Spider, motorcycle, flying (in general, with rotors, jets), tank, and then FINALLY, car. (water and space crafts are already too marginal to rank, but they too can be assumed in relation to default maleness, AND that in making one a woman, would still qualify as othering her).

The NUMBER one reason for this is the bizarre need to have an ESTABLISHED woman tf character before making new ones. AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE. With a g1 gender ratio something like.... (counting even the most marginal cases for the ladies) 9:120? (That's a rough count from a quick scanning of the tf wiki g1 char list) Shits dire out here.

The second is, ofc, character design based. cis people [stand in phrase for the hegemonic world view] are not okay, and their opinions about how tf gender must need be depicted visually is. uh? Im not a fan. Size and shape dimorphism in general is a given, and specifically having women tfs as far more humanoid and curvy in specific. Also general cartoon lady face syndrome but, whatever. I think there's exactly one character here who doesn't have "lips" or "lipstick" as a distinguishing factor. I'm so tired.

Third is generally, the idea of The Girl Of the Team. When there's The Girl, she often isn't JUST a normal character, who happens to be a girl. See, of course, the Smurtfette Principle. But in my view there's also a trend to give The Girl "special traits" on top of "Girl", maybe even to directly combat the idea that the Girl Character has no other traits? To stop this from being a General Primer on Woman in Media, my explanatory focus is things specific to the tf franchise.

(A phrase I use for thinking about normative modes [in general, not just the Alt ones] in within the tf universe is "unique transformerdom" or, even more clunkily, "A transformer of unique transformerdom". The excessive verbosity is amusing to me personally. All I mean by it is to have an umbrella term for any of the ways tfs can be made unique from their peers in the non allegorical realities of the fiction).

I could, and do, and greatly want to, speak about this AT LENGTH. But it keeps spiraling away from me. So I'll say for now were looking at ways a character is being depicted different from her peers, not because she is the only woman (which she likely is), but cause she's a different kind of transformer, AND if she's othered for it.

(IN SOME forms of the lore. Being a transformer woman, IS A UNIQUE KIND of transformer unto itself. Let's just say I hate it and move on)

Fourth, is the gender of villainy. There is much to be said about gender presentation of villains, the ways they are allowed to be aberrant. We will get to it. There is also all the tropes specific TO evil women, and the modes of villainy open TO female characters. But a general thing I think impacting the gender ratios of the factions is the how "Good" and "Evil" female characters are written. I'll generalize and call this the "Damsel vs Temptress" dichotomy. (See concepts like the Madonna-whore complex). Transformers, is by and large, an action franchise. Unless special reasons are made, characters who can impact the action– have more screen time, and likely more memorable, and iconic presences. A villainous woman can be unchaste, violent, aggressive. While a heroic woman, even if not a literal damsel are more likely to be in a support role. The secretaries of the action genre: medics and techs.

(Another factor is that tfs are giant robots, and the good guys are often friends with tiny squishy little humans. These make very good damsel fodder, and can be taking up the spots on the roster that might, in a different franchise, go to women. Additionally, while woman characters in transformers overall is an interesting topic. When I say tf women, I'm referring to ones that are in fictionally, transformers.)

SO, now understanding our points of attack/obstacles for getting woman into transformers. (Getting established, gendering the designed, uniqueness of existence, and general villainy). Lets go over those alt modes, and the characters that have em, in more detail.

Spiders

The "Beast Era" (1996) intro-ed the spider ofc. And what don't we have with this one. She's a villain, but shes also misunderstood, the era and design style let to these more organic shapes. And they used them to make sure she was very sexy. She's genre aware, she's quippy, she's an absolute icon. So naturally. She gets ported to other later shows. Which means we just have sexy spider ladies running around when everyone else is a fucking truck and shit.

Her own origin is, well think of her as a "Bride of Frankenstein" to the resident evil scientist, also a spider. She was designed for, and manipulated by him in multiple ways. Her protoform (A blank robot base), was supposed to be one of the good guys (a Maximal), but was reprogrammed into a bad guy (Predacon). Even then, she eventually joins them, for her own reasons. She's not even the first predacon to do so, the difference? Well the characters are a lot more NORMAL about his autonomy. Both of these characters stress that being a predacon is an identity they still see as important. But only the woman is told that really, she is was was always MEANT to be a maximal. And while that's true in a sense. There's also a plot were she's forced (by plot contrivance, not the other maximals) to get corrective robot surgery for it. And when they think she died from, everyone's more sad for her boyfriend than for her. Ouch.

The second spider, in the 2007 show, is now one in a world where she is the only "techno-organic" transformer, hence, she is spider, everyone else is a vehicle. Similar to the first, her narrative is very gendered, but less in the way were, like, I do literally think the first was was experiencing in universe sexism from other characters. Here, they really focus on the "techno vs organic" narrative, and the tragic circumstances on how that happened. In this case its just real world sexist writing.

THIRD SPIDER, (2010), instead of misunderstood and tragic evil, this ones just super mega likes to cause pain evil. She also occupies a strange place between the typic vehicular tfs, and the insecticons. This is because she has a helicopter alt mode, and her robot mode is just, a lady with spider characteristics. And, more than just a passing bug like similarity, she has the power to control the insecticons (you know, cause evil woman mind control). However, she doesn't fit in with them either, as the insecticons are at the most insect like they've ever been, in look, living in hives and that most don't even speak.

They may vary in exact character, relationship to the story's moral conflict, and design. But they stay comfortably established, dimorphised, flirty and flirting with villainy. And bonus points, always, for black widow spider trope.

SO. SPIDERS. Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ (Extremely!) Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ Villainy: ✅️

Motorcycles

Tooooo my knowledge the first bike lady was in 2004, and fairly minor, in the actual plot, but rest assured, they did go the previously established woman route, by being pink, though, which one shes named after varies by language. But neither were previously motorcycles. (And yes, there is also this problem of mixing together or swapping out one woman tf for another. As if we have the ladies to spare). Even though motorcycle men also exist, this one just stuck for a bit. Maybe something to do with Those Movies. I think the Gendered Existence of a motorcycle is pretty evident though, general sex appeal, being smaller, the mode of riding a motorcycle is different, more physical and intimate. Mainly this ranks so high for the level of grossness they can pack in. Just how objectifying it can be, particularly with two instances where the human rider is an annoying teen boy. Naturally, I've also never seen a male and female motorcycle in the same room, but the approach to design tends to be different. And yeah most of em are Arcee, who's first alt mode was cyber car, but it's not just her.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: Depends on iteration, I do NOT like the way one gets called "tough, for a two wheeler". Villainy: ❌(they wouldn't need to be motorcycles if they weren't making them the Special Girl Autobot, after all)

Flying

General: It just tends to stick out when your one girl is only flyer in the group, even she's otherwise tactfully done. Only flyer of the Maximals, a falcon, only flyer of the dinobots, a Pteranodon.

Rotors

I can barely even figure this one. Maybe it's just a general, aesthetics and use case of the actually vehicles, the associations? None of these ladies (and special case) are very connected otherwise. As previously mentioned, the spider helicopter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A big one for this is the preschool demo shows, which are rescue team focused. In the first one the only woman on the human response worker team pairs with the helicopter, they mention she does medical at times. The helicopter is male, like the other tfs. But also he's afraid of flying, and while not the first case of a flyer with a fear of heights, their personalities are, pretty different. As he's both fearful AND effeminate, fine as character traits go but, with the tone of humour used, marks him as Other.

In the second, Whirl (pointing to icon) becomes a girl for the first time, now with standard humanized face. I assume as move to keep with the previous show of having a girl one, as there's no human team mates. She's also the only one who really likes rescue school. Aaaand that's all know of her. What more do you want from me.

Helicopters: Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (milder than some)

But why'd I call this section rotors instead of helicopters? That would be because one of the latest Sole Female TF we just put in everything™ is a VTOL jet with rotors. She'll tend to be the only jet of her type, which is also smaller than the type of jet used for the villains.

And, of course, aside from alt mode, the thing that makes her stand out most in the cartoons? That she's very clearly a comics character. (I find the emphasize that she's "fan created" over done, as it only controlled minor aspects, and irrelevant cause tfs get completely overhauled in new versions all the time). From her design, which is a bit busier than most characters she stars with. And also uses Japanese aesthetic signifiers in ways that I think are a bit misappropriated and untactful. (VERY USamerican comics). Also, when she stars next to a guy, also from comics employing Japanese aesthetic, you can tell its not deployed in the same manner. (E.I she has hair and makeup, he has armor). Either way, her depictions have her either as badass sword lady on mission from god who's constantly getting hit on by an annoying guy. Or have her be from a different planet and has special telepathy.

Do we see how both her gender AND the cultural signifiers are having affects here? That the main woman tf in a series can be a literal alien even among our alien robots, with cultural signifiers they don't have?

Ratings Established: ✅️ (made the comics to cartoon jump) Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (SO SO EXTREMELY, using methods in fiction and real life)

Jets

I think my association of jets with tf gender is stronger, than some of the above examples, even if there's less reason to it. And why is that? Well, lets get socratic. Here's another question.

Is This All Starscream's Fault?

No. He's not real, he can't do things. But. His legacy as THE main stay transformers character that gets to subvert gender? Yeah. (Sure, the G1 autobots have their own effete, but he's not in every single cartoon they ever made now is he? Plus now that I think about it, he is a FLYING car...)

From the get, he's not a Man's man. He's shrill, he's manipulative and duplicitous, petty and emotional, cowardly and wheedling. He is, of course, the Perfect character. Now naturally, the 80s cartoon was not concerned with your paltry logics. Starscream and his ilk are the jets, but every decepticon can fly. The gun, the cassette player, the camera, the cassettes.

And each to a last, more masculine than he is. Vocally or behaviorally, physically. Every one of them fit the gender expectations more than he does. Even being a small time grunt, is a masculine trait, after all, more so than unchecked ambition. So its not femininity from flying, from jets. But direct relationship, reference, and descendancy from Starscream that makes it. I've yet to see female versions of Jet fire and or the aerialbots, for example.

So what to do when an effeminate male villain was less maltese falcon and more that man has effeminate hips? Well. We had to start getting his ass for being effeminate, explicitly. They made the female clone of him, which yeah, is an offensive joke stemming from the various The Gender Anxieties. (Transmisogyny, homophobia and sexism. General relation toxic masculinity. A heady mix of all and more).

But I mean. It's free girl tf... Once given a name in extra canon materials, she start's showing up in other things. Once you're in books, video games, comics, and most importantly, toys, you're real. And then eventually, her first non clone appearance in a cartoon, and how her presence shaped it.

That being, Cyberverse. Which is a cgi show, you need to know this for reasons of production. Making new models is expensive. This has always been the reason you just make recolours of Starscream and name them different things. Chicken or egg on this one, I don't know, But because CV has Slipstream, and the only difference between her and the generic "male" decepticon jet, is a more feminine face; Suddenly, any random decepticon goon can be a woman.

An absolutely revolutionary take for striving to populate a fictional world with gender parity. By at large it also means they're way more lady villains, and specifically flying model of villain. The show has other woman, but none who get the same androgynous body mold treatment.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: Mildly to NO. Unique: By design, no. Othered: Yes for the clone, and Screamer himself, I suppose. No, otherwise. Villainy: ✅️(That's, the whole idea)

Tanks

It needs to be said. Sometimes, when doing things that transgress a norm, anteing up is less subversive. This is another reason why gender variance, female agency and overt sexuality are more common traits of villains. When already defying strictures of society. What's one more.

That's Right. TANKS ARE THE BUTCH WOMAN OF TRANSFORMERS.

Alright. Let me back up. Strika is the stone cold knock out undefeated champ of lady tf designs that, actually has a reoccurring cartoon presence. She is, admittedly, only a reoccurring to minor character.

Her introduction is in another show with techno-organics, this one involved in the struggle between well, the techno and the organic. Strika as we see her, and as the design that will go on to be iterated, is not in her normal transformer body. She has been transferred into a 'vehicon' body. Without a preexisting essence contained in one, vehicons are not considered alive, in the way a transformer is. Visually, they lack the more human body plan, a standard face, feet and hand like appendages.

To further contrast Strika against the two techno-organic woman. Both of them are tall, and slender. Their softer organic shapes designed towards elegance or beauty, whatever your subjective opinion of that result might be. They both have romance subplots too. By the way. Or honestly one subplot and one main plot. Strika. In contrast. Is built like a brick shit house. Her face is. Minimal. And her goal: protecting her planet... by terminating the heroes.

Now, existing as a character that can be referenced for other media, and given the detail that she was a "Famous general", it's off to the races. She makes a wonderful big tank menace that can fill out a background shot, too.

Without her I hardly think we could have Clobber, also from CV. Who is. The true goat. The finest thing, the achievements of all we could ever hope for. A big fuck off woman, gender swapped from a previous male design with minimal faff, with now even more personality and show presence. Friends, wants, desires. Emotions. Thank God for Clobber, Thank Clobber for Clobber. Thank Randolph Heard and Mae Catt for Clobber.

Established: Depends if you want to count that Strika had so much swag they kept drawing/modeling her Gendered designs: FUCK NO Unique: ✅️ Othered: only originally Villainy: ✅️

Cars

So now you have the final piece of the puzzle. In transformers, Autobots are Cars. Yes, there are plenty of autobots that are NOT cars, and there are cars that are not Autobots. But they're exceptions, they're aberrances. They're unique. And Autobots are the norm. They oppose the Decepticons. Decepticons are Villains. And Decepticons can fly. Modal simplified binaries and false dichotomy abound!

And the thing about those original Autobot woman, the one's who largely did not influence all of this? They were cars, it's true, but not like how the men where cars. They've not been designed from transforming car toys, with a shellac of humanoid gender over top. Their designed in the way of human gender. With the car on top.

When the preexisting clause leads to the original designs to be revisited, which, has largely only happened in more recent years. They aren't car woman robots. The cars are literally not part of their bodies, they are additional. Instead of a unifying identity of a robot who is a car, its Arcee and her backpack. Parts of cars get grafted onto their petite lady bodies, and placed anywhere out of the way.

In order to make a transformer a woman, they have to give her a gender, not understanding that that's always been the case. And to give her a woman's gender, she's got to LOOK like a woman, not a transformer. And to look like a woman, she's got to act like a woman. She must be heroic but reactive instead of active, or else, villainous, conniving and or self centered. To be a woman, we must have some other previous woman to explain her presence, or else explain it anew with her unique, strange, or exotic origin. How could she ever be a woman if she simply, existed, looked average, talked average. How could she be a woman if her body is hunks of ungendered car. How can she be a woman if she's everything we expect a transformer to be.

A woman is transgressive, a woman is not normal. Autobots are normal. Autobots are heros. Autobots are men. And Autobots do not fly.

#some shit #its not called cisformers #<- IT SURE ISNT FOLKS #a note on how im using citations here u can read BEFORE getting into the post proper #I'm writing this in mind that someone might have NO idea about tf. or. god forbid. #the general perspective of media trope analysis im working from. #So the links can be considered additional or further reading with intent of 1. if a more thorough understanding of a concept might help #2. something im eliding the name of for search reasons 3. a referential example of what im saying #4. a specifc reference/bit of info that might be unclear. in which case im usually linking to a SECTION of the page #5. JOKE #ALright now normal tag talking space. #THIS IS. serious media analysis done casually for fun! in that. I mean it. genuinely. But also im here for silly fun and im not trying #to be SOOOO academically rigorous that its still not. Posting. u know? #MUCH inspired. or i suppose u might say. encouraged to completion and whole hearted commitment by (fandom) silly serious analysis and #math theroying thematics #i have NO idea if this thing will be searchable with all the links and the words i used. but i prepared for it it case it is #AND I PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO IT!!!!!!!! SO its okay if anyone reads it! #but im also braced for bad faithing inwhich case. I will not be held responsible for my actions. thank you. #i have been told to tag this #maccadam #transformers #if someone tryies to kill me for it im not taking responsibility

[laurzzz]

Oooo just a heads up! I'll be going off break from uni and returning to my usual (and heavy, genuinely heavy) uni schedule in a few days so if I suddenly go quiet, that's why!

I'll still answer asks as soon as I can though they're not a bother! So feel free to just go off in my inbox despite this information

Also! Commissions are still open! I did put the TAT as 2 months max for this very reason

#talks talks talks #suddenly remembering that one tiktok post lmao #'so as it turns out the academically rigorous institution that i chose to attend— #—is in fact. rigorous academically' #✨✨✨ #i chose this i wanted this (i say as i cradle myself back and forth) /silly

[wyrmgeard]

i draw him a lot when i get stressed out by uni apparently

#my art #oc: m #as it turns out the academically rigorous course i signed up for is indeed academically rigorous and i do not like rigour

[liass-21]

been super busy recently so here’s an old fic :) new content coming soon hopefully!!!! planning on writing a lot once winter break starts

#the problem with a social life and a rigorous academic schedule #is that i have literally no time for hobbies :( #my fic #benthan #mission impossible #benji dunn #ethan hunt #himym au

[discoidal]

i have enough in the queue for 30 days maybe i need to get my head on straight...

#going back to a competitive and rigorous academic program would ruin all my free time and therefore fix me #if u want to talk to me my gmails are zoethepurplenerd or zadrien.reads 👍

[thesewordsareallihavetogive]

I have a pharmacology exam on Wednesday and I would love nothing more than to slip into the abyss (cool weather and cozy blankets, candles and soft rain) and still get an A on the exam tbh

#but no!!! #I just HAD to be an academic weapon #and had to choose an rigorous and challenging major #-> me when my challenging major is challenging me: :(( #moral of the story is that there are so many drugs to help you start pooping or stop pooping. so many to choose from & so many to know #there are even MORE drugs to help you not be sad. SO MANY. #also! if you're at risk for thromboembolisms #good news for you buddy #there are also SEVERAL DRUGS TO CHOOSE FROM #(several drugs that nursing students have to learn) #sometimes I wanna talk to the dean and be like “have you considered this: I'm just a girl. I'm literally just a girl” #shut up lauren

[leggypuppy]

Where in the mansus do you think the best dates can be had?

For me, it's a toss-up between the Red Church, the Malleary and the Door to Nowhere

RANKING ALL MANSUS LOCATIONS ACCORDING TO HOW WELL THEY SET THE MOODTM

The Wood: romantic in theory, but you'll spend more time tripping over tree roots and reverting to the primal mammal state than anything else. too many bugs 3/10

The Well: gross. do not bring a date here unless you're both the kind of people who find looking at pondlife under a microscope to be an intimate couples activity. 2/10

The Temple of the Wheel: Comparatively not too bad. unfortunately has little to recommend it if you're not into really obscure history. 4/10

The White Door: Better than the Wood, but not by much. At least Trafalgar Square or something doesn't occasionally open up onto a river of neither pus nor joy that wishes only to infect and become. Too many dead/tourists 4/10

The Lodge of the Sage Knight: This is more like it! Velvet cushions, blue silk, imaginary wine. Absolutely the best place to relax and get to know each other a bit better. 7/10

The Orchard of Lights: A bit more dangerous than the Lodge, but hey, where else do you get to catch a glimpse of the Solar Hours when they're not actively trying to kill you? I would commit crimes to hang out and feed my partner little pieces of those sunset fruits. 8/10

The Stag Door: Has a built-in third wheel. 3/10

The Ascent of Knives: Pretty okay so long as you're not dumb enough to try and climb it. 6/10

The Painted River: Absolutely one of the better ones. Very scenic, not overly deadly. Might be a bit boring if you're the kind of person who thinks gallery dates are a bit naff. 6/10

The Spider's Door: Absolutely not. Complete horrorshow, and not in the fun way 0/10

The Malleary: not the worst, but probably best experienced solo. I don't think the Forge would look super kindly on young lovers in her workshop. 5/10

The Chamber of Ways: Genuinely stunning and intense, but bringing a date here would be like going on a tour of an art deco office skyscraper, or maybe a funeral. Too much like hard work 5/10

The Peacock's Door: Objectively the sexiest date spot in the Manus, apart from maybe the Red Church. Literally a yonic symbol that you have to get off to pass through. Loses a point for also coming with a built-in third wheel, but Vak isn't there permenently, and is probably more fun to talk to than Ghirbi. 8/10

The Red Church: Maybe not on a first date, but if you really wanna bone this person, you can't do better than here. The Ivories and the Lovelies know how to fucking party. Plus it's LGBT+ inclusive! 9/10

The Worm Museum: About as good as the Red Church if you're more for the intellectual persuits. Again, maybe not on a first date, but if you and your date can stand a bit of existential momento mori, it's really pretty awesome. 8/10

The Tricuspid Gate: Honestly it's been so long since I won an Apostle game I can't remember much about it. Too close to the Glory for comfort. 4/10

The Glory: No. 0/10

#extremely objective and academically rigorous #cultist simulator #cultsim

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Jesse Singal

Published: Oct 7, 2021

Recently, the Urban Institute, a highly respected think tank, published an article online headlined “Equitable Research Requires Questioning the Status Quo.” The article argues that “long-standing values and practices rooted in racism, ableism, and classism are ingrained in the fabric of research, leaving many researchers unaware of the harm they are causing. Researchers can counteract harmful aspects of these practices by sharing power with the people and communities they study.”

To help researchers do better, the post lists three “Harmful Research Practices.” Two of them are ‘objectivity’ and ‘rigor.’ This seems strange. Aren’t objectivity and rigor the hallmarks of any decent knowledge-producing body? The Urban Institute, after all, touts itself as “a nonprofit research organization that believes decisions shaped by facts, rather than ideology, have the power to improve public policy and practice, strengthen communities, and transform people’s lives for the better.” It’s unclear what the words ‘unbiased’ and ‘authoritative’ and ‘facts’ could possibly mean in the absence of ideals like objectivity and rigor, even if, as is true of literally every human ideal, these concepts can be abused to justify malevolent acts or beliefs.

(To be clear, the post explicitly calls objectivity and rigor “Harmful research practices.” It does not say something like “they are generally good things that can be abused.” If the post did say that, there would be no reason for it to exist, because this is a very obvious point. But whenever these sorts of arguments arise, someone pops up to say, “Well, really what they’re saying is…” No! That’s a motte-and-bailey tactic and it’s annoying and we should glide on right past it.)

This explicit denunciation of objectivity and rigor and other crucial intellectual concepts isn’t new, unfortunately. It’s been percolating in liberal spaces for a while — particularly in education. Back in 2019, for example, I wrote about a slide from a training given to administrators in the New York City public school system which described ‘Individualism,’ “Worship of the Written Word,” and, yes, ‘Objectivity,’ among other things, as elements of “White Supremacy Culture.” (The New York Post originally broke that story, reporting that some administrators, unsurprisingly, were not happy with the training.)

--

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/equitable-research-requires-questioning-status-quo

==

The idea that the people with “lived experience” are just as qualified as those studying a subject objectively is like saying that you know your cancer better than the oncologist with 16 years of medical training on the subject. It couldn’t, for example, be that a community has accepted and stuck to an answer or solution entirely through tradition or authority? What was their methodology? Because if you’re going to be suspicious of one methodology, then you need to be suspicious of them all, for consistency’s sake. (”Consistency” probably falls under the white supremacy of “rigor” though, huh?)

And it means deciding consciously and right up front, that the truth, no matter what it might be, is not the priority. That sensitivities and feelings supersede the pursuit of knowledge, and certain answers are presumed to be unacceptable. Which is no better than presupposing the answers, as any religious apologist does.

It’s particularly gross, in a “Noble Savage” fetish kind of way, to assume that such a community’s “ways of knowing” don’t stand up to objective and rational scrutiny, or that they aren’t based on those same principles in the first place. There’s a built-in assumption that they don’t stand up, but it’s wrong to look too closely.

The Urban Institute’s process is reliable and repeatable: Find things that undermine your ideology and activism. Label and associate them with something bad to demonize them and create alarm. Redefine the bad thing. Repeatedly call people the bad thing to discourage them from doing the undermining things -- until the bad thing becomes watered down and meaningless.

It worked for Xians. They made rock music and science tool of the Devil, and therefore musicians and people who want to teach science are evil and to be opposed. So many things are now the work of the Devil that not only can any Xian claim anything to be the work of the Devil, but nobody actually cares.

You know you’re through the looking glass when you have to ask “real white supremacy, or the imaginary objectivity-is-white-supremacy kind?” As with calling everything “trauma,” this obscures identifying and tackling - not to mention, provides cover for - actual white supremacy, instead of obsessively piddling around with the imaginary kind.

#Jesse Singal #objectivity #lived experience #subjective reality #academic rigor #rigor #whiteness #white supremacy #epistemology #standpoint epistemology #academic standards #academic corruption #corruption of knowledge #academic fraud #wokeness as religion #cult of woke #woke activism #woke #wokeism #religion is a mental illness

[august-undergrounds]

not my brother telling me it’s stupid that i’m so excited for med school since it’s so far away and i probably won’t get in … bro you’ve spent this entire conversation talking about being a millionaire before 25 and having one of the best jobs in america (he is unemployed and failing multiple university classes because he’s partying so much) … hello???

#my grades are good (3.97 gpa and a 31 act score) #plus my ap classes will bulk up academic rigor #like i actually have a very good chance at med school

[pyjamac]

people really like to say things are culturally christian just bc they don’t like them but i can promise you productivity culture is so jewish

#do you think all those jokes about mothers wanting their kids to be doctors are like bc they want their kids to like. #have academic rigor or something. #shah mac

[archaic-stranger]

blasting spooky scary skeletons from my dorm room to counteract the person down the hall playing all i want for christmas

#academically rigorous institution my ass #we're just having a fun little time

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

Just want to take a sec to recommend a great game I got to play tonight: I Have the High Ground

It's a two-person duel of banter and posturing (and capes!) that comes _before_ the climactic duel, and it's just a lot of fun to create two characters and see them each trying to get the upper hand. Mechanically not too complex (some basic rock-paper-scissors, with embellishments) but it does a really good job of creating a tense and dynamic mood, and I think it'd be good even for people who haven't done a lot of free-form RP before.

Tonight, I played a game where we were two allied-turned-rival magicians, and our 'academic' debate over whether or not there was some fundamental bit of reality that could not be altered by magic (and also our unresolved romantic tension) brought us slowly but inexorably to the brink of magical war with each other -- lots of fun to just gradually wind each other up. :)

So yeah, I'd highly recommend, and also will be looking for a chance to play this again some time.

#I Have the High Ground #Jess Levine #small games #rpgs #duels #wizards #love me a good wizard debate #love my posturing populist show-off #and also the rigorously trained academic who knew all my secret history