Academic snobs and the tenure concept explained:
http://incharacter.org/observation/snobs-in-the-groves-of-academe/. Essentially, according to the author, tenure makes some sense when it comes to the hard sciences where actual stuff is being discovered, understood, etc. as opposed to the humanities where professorial types attempt to justify their existence by reinventing a wheel that's already been spun a time or two. There's obviously an opposite point of view here that's not represented--the freedom to loudly descent and proclaim outrageous positions crowd. Only thing is that these folks don't seem to be exactly that far out of what passes for mainstream thought on a lot of campi. I don't know--I'm disgusted and outraged by a lot of shit that gets spewed by professor types but I've never taken them that serious, thinking that if they were really good at what they were doing, they would be doing it in the private sector. But, that's the capitalist running dog coming out in me. Talking with them is often very similar to when you're visiting with someone in the religion bidness--you make some deferential comments in their direction and take a circuitous path around the big ass gorilla sitting in the middle of the room. Just isn't worth waking the thing up.
http://incharacter.org/observation/snobs-in-the-groves-of-academe/. Essentially, according to the author, tenure makes some sense when it comes to the hard sciences where actual stuff is being discovered, understood, etc. as opposed to the humanities where professorial types attempt to justify their existence by reinventing a wheel that's already been spun a time or two. There's obviously an opposite point of view here that's not represented--the freedom to loudly descent and proclaim outrageous positions crowd. Only thing is that these folks don't seem to be exactly that far out of what passes for mainstream thought on a lot of campi. I don't know--I'm disgusted and outraged by a lot of shit that gets spewed by professor types but I've never taken them that serious, thinking that if they were really good at what they were doing, they would be doing it in the private sector. But, that's the capitalist running dog coming out in me. Talking with them is often very similar to when you're visiting with someone in the religion bidness--you make some deferential comments in their direction and take a circuitous path around the big ass gorilla sitting in the middle of the room. Just isn't worth waking the thing up.
For the record, I never had a class with the professor pictured above. Damn registrar's office.
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