Thank you so much for posting this interview. I dropped out of my Master's program in English literature two years ago after two semesters of nonsense at my university here in Canada. My stomach literally felt nauseous over the summer whenever I debated returning to complete the program. I felt much better when I made the decision to drop the program even though I knew that this would incur extra costs. I didn't want a degree that would mean nothing to me. The majority of papers assigned in one course were so weak on any kind of evidence or value that it was easy to tell that the authors were simply making stuff up. I was easily able to find much more interesting and accurate information from sources written thirty or even fifty years ago where clear writing and clear ideas contributed more to my papers than anything written in the last twenty years. One of my courses, dedicated to the saving of the humanities, revealed so much about the thinking of the English professors that I lost all hope for the entire department. Anti-American, anti-popular culture, anti-capitalism, anti-science (including anti-STEM), anti-individualism, anti-realism (visual art), even anti-evidence, was how the course began with two sessions of three hours every week for months, all on how the world was falling apart and how the humanities would save us. But, only if the humanities were guided by the correct political philosophy, which turned out to be Marxism. Our resident Marxist guest lecturer with a PhD and a key to the secretary's office of the English department was brought in to give us hope. That class became more of an indoctrination centre as a result. We were encouraged to join him in sessions held on campus where we would discuss his ideas about the "radical imagination." I had a gallery, and this fellow's brother had waltzed in weeks earlier professing, without prompting, "It's a great day for communism!" He was more than surprised when I said, "No, it's not." Our resident Marxist/anarchist wanted to "destroy all institutions and rebuild them from scratch," And I wondered if that included the institution that gave him his PhD. He was so lost in his ideology that it never occurred to him that the student questioning him (me) on his ideas of art and art history might be doing his best to restrain himself from crawling across the table in order to strangle him to death. "Artists don't deserve the fame they receive," he said. "Artists are only able to achieve that fame because of the incredible work done by so many other who create a society that enables them to even live." (Paraphrased) In his world view he didn't believe that artists should achieve the status they had earned. In the English department. Let that sink in. This in a class intended to extoll the virtues of the humanities which needed saving because STEM courses were stealing away bright students. Please KZitem, allow me to say: What the fuck? The great loss to me is a working environment that should have been intellectually engaging. Certainly I'll earn less money as an artist than as a professor. It's a hard life I chose for myself. I’ve made many sacrifices. I thought becoming a professor could earn me a better living and maybe one day I could afford a house, maybe get married, have children. I don’t have as many years left as I’d like. Sadly, it turns out I have morals and a love for what I do so much so that I'm willing to continue to make sacrifices. Recently I gave my children's books to evacuees of our burning Northern region. That felt great. No money was earned. Knowing that children love my books is enough. I don't need a Masters degree to add value. But where there is a loss is that I feel I have so much to give to potential students. If English departments are now political indoctrination centres where do young people go to get inspired when they have a love of children's books, novels, plays and poetry?
@DEWwords
Жыл бұрын
Well done. & Well said.
@Marinealver
2 жыл бұрын
All these years and the problem Dr. Sokal exposed only got worse.
@ibadmuhammad6453
Жыл бұрын
Saya datang ke sinih gara" rocky gerung....... Terimakasih rocky gerun. Menambah wawasan saya tentang "hoax" yg artinya bukan kejahatan hanya sajah salah satu strategi buat rahasia yg tertutup agar kita mencurigainya. Sekali lagi saya datang ke sinih karna filsuf indonesia rocky gerung.
@DEWwords
Жыл бұрын
Wrong about the decline. Meta meta meta, yes, religious, social contagion...
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