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I think you've missed the point of safe spaces. These are places for people to figure out who they are outside of that "protection" that parents and the rest h

I think you've missed the point of safe spaces. These are places for people to figure out who they are outside of that "protection" that parents and the rest have put over these people their whole lives until this point. The reason people go a little crazy in college is because they're forced to confront the idea they've never had the autonomy to be themselves before. They're exposed to people who lead lives that they had no idea were a possibility, let alone something they might want to become. And the reason the left is practically universal in higher education the same reason why the left side of the spectrum is represented pretty much universally across every other government in the developed world: Education forces you to consider things larger than yourself and your little tribe. You want the students in the "real world" to consider things the same way you do, but when they reject your opinions, it's not because they're brainwashed. It's because you've not presented an effective argument. When they show up in masses to shout down your ideology, I'm curious why you don't question your approach. But no, it's the children that are wrong, isn't it Principal?

guitarbill 10y ago
> It's because you've not presented an effective argument. Um, no, in fact one of the points you might learn from talking to different people is that most of them are irrational in some way or another. It's part of the human condition. > And the reason the left is practically universal in higher education the same reason why the left side of the spectrum is represented pretty much universally across every other government in the developed world: Education forces you to consider things larger than yourself and your little tribe. I don't buy this for a second. Like the article says, many of the staff are openly left, and have been since the 70s. And look, you assume I'm right leaning. I've always considered myself left or maybe centrist. But since college, that has definitely weakened, as I've travelled and worked with people of all political orientations. So yeah, the kids are wrong, and I am/was one of them - but it's not their fault. I'm agreeing with the article.
- bobdole1234 10y ago
  You don't buy that education forces you to consider things outside yourself and your tribe? Even after you say you used to believe it, but as you've left education, it speaks to you less and less?
  - Inconel 10y ago
    I'm not the poster you're responding to, and I never had the determination or opportunity to attend college so I have no direct experience with it, but does a traditional college education really force you to consider those things? I assume by education you mean college education. I know plenty of college educated people, many from extremely prestigious universities, and while they are both bright and I believe good people, most of them don't have much experience or perspective outside of what its like to be a middle/upper class American. Just to be clear, seeing as I have no actual experience with college, I'm not dismissing your assertion, just comparing it to my experience with college educated people.
  - guitarbill 10y ago
    Yeah. At college, people are either left or pretend to be cause it's better than constantly looked down uppon. And the alure of the left is that you think your policies are helping most people or the people who need it the most. Well meaning but well off leftists can come up with some terribly misguided thinking. It's too easy to live in a bubble, and the world isn't black and white. To put it in programming terms, you have to go speak to your customers to know their use-cases, even unintentional ones. Otherwise, you might implement the wrong features.
    - bobdole1234 10y ago
      I find the differences between the left and right are that the right tends to tell what everyone else to change in order to fit in the with the group. Whereas the left tends to ask the group to accept the differences in outsiders they work with. This fits better with the reality of working with a large group of people from all over the world for short projects, you often don't have the time or political ability to make your collaborators conform, so you expect your group to make do.
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
>And the reason the left is practically universal in higher education the same reason why the left side of the spectrum is represented pretty much universally across every other government in the developed world: Education forces you to consider things larger than yourself and your little tribe. No, it's mostly a historical artifact of academic hiring after the '60s, mixed in with the weird historical aberration that, starting with the Bush Administration, the Republican Party has consistently cut funding to academic grant agencies.

guitarbill 10y ago

> It's because you've not presented an effective argument. Um, no, in fact one of the points you might learn from talking to different people is that most of them are irrational in some way or another. It's part of the human condition. > And the reason the left is practically universal in higher education the same reason why the left side of the spectrum is represented pretty much universally across every other government in the developed world: Education forces you to consider things larger than yourself and your little tribe. I don't buy this for a second. Like the article says, many of the staff are openly left, and have been since the 70s. And look, you assume I'm right leaning. I've always considered myself left or maybe centrist. But since college, that has definitely weakened, as I've travelled and worked with people of all political orientations. So yeah, the kids are wrong, and I am/was one of them - but it's not their fault. I'm agreeing with the article.

bobdole1234 10y ago
You don't buy that education forces you to consider things outside yourself and your tribe? Even after you say you used to believe it, but as you've left education, it speaks to you less and less?
- Inconel 10y ago
  I'm not the poster you're responding to, and I never had the determination or opportunity to attend college so I have no direct experience with it, but does a traditional college education really force you to consider those things? I assume by education you mean college education. I know plenty of college educated people, many from extremely prestigious universities, and while they are both bright and I believe good people, most of them don't have much experience or perspective outside of what its like to be a middle/upper class American. Just to be clear, seeing as I have no actual experience with college, I'm not dismissing your assertion, just comparing it to my experience with college educated people.
- guitarbill 10y ago
  Yeah. At college, people are either left or pretend to be cause it's better than constantly looked down uppon. And the alure of the left is that you think your policies are helping most people or the people who need it the most. Well meaning but well off leftists can come up with some terribly misguided thinking. It's too easy to live in a bubble, and the world isn't black and white. To put it in programming terms, you have to go speak to your customers to know their use-cases, even unintentional ones. Otherwise, you might implement the wrong features.
  - bobdole1234 10y ago
    I find the differences between the left and right are that the right tends to tell what everyone else to change in order to fit in the with the group. Whereas the left tends to ask the group to accept the differences in outsiders they work with. This fits better with the reality of working with a large group of people from all over the world for short projects, you often don't have the time or political ability to make your collaborators conform, so you expect your group to make do.

eli_gottlieb 10y ago

>And the reason the left is practically universal in higher education the same reason why the left side of the spectrum is represented pretty much universally across every other government in the developed world: Education forces you to consider things larger than yourself and your little tribe. No, it's mostly a historical artifact of academic hiring after the '60s, mixed in with the weird historical aberration that, starting with the Bush Administration, the Republican Party has consistently cut funding to academic grant agencies.