4 ms·

A part of me believes that academics fulfill the role of priests in ancient cultures. They have highly developed sophisticated incantations which are not intend

by nafey 9y ago

A part of me believes that academics fulfill the role of priests in ancient cultures. They have highly developed sophisticated incantations which are not intended to be meaningful but to build a facade of control and portray an illusion of almost prophetic insight to the general public.

keithwhor 9y ago
Sounds like you went to grad school. :) Edit: This is not facetious. YMMV, but many share this sentiment.
xapata 9y ago
Nearly every elitist subculture does this. Executives and management consultants have their own esoteric jargon. To amuse myself during conference calls, I used to invent silly dance moves to correspond to their various phrases as if the boss was at a square dance calling out the next step. "Circle back," "Align," "Come to Jesus," and of course, "Synergize!"
vecter 9y ago
What are academics controlling?
- blusterXY 9y ago
  tenure
- fennecfoxen 9y ago
  Indoctrination of the people who use the education system, of course. (Specifics and the ultimate impact are left as an exercise to the reader.)
  - collyw 9y ago
    Actually listening to Jordan Peterson talking about some humanities subjects (gender studies for example), there may be some truth in this.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
osullivj 9y ago
There are shared cultural roots in monasticism in medieval Europe. The monasteries were keepers of books, learning and scholarship in the long interregnum after the fall of Rome and up to the Renaissance. Oxford, Cambridge, Bologna and the other ancient universities of Europe were founded early in the second millenium, and it was natural for them to take the monasteries as a template.
afpx 9y ago
In Human culture, accepted ideas are tightly associated with social status. Unfortunately, in my experience, social status isn't highly correlated with awesome ideas. That's why low-status people (like myself) who thrive on seeing novel ideas be realized must quickly learn the art of 'managing upwards' (i.e. Making one's boss think it was their idea).
dredmorbius 9y ago
A pretty well-recognised truth. J.S. Mill on 19th century Britain, via Hans E. Jensen: First, the universities were given the task of providing an unceasing supply of ideologically correct candidates for vital positions in government, church and business. The state was able to make the faculties of the "'venerable institutions'" of higher education, or rather indoctrination, assume this duty because it controlled appointments and held the purse from which "emoluments" flowed into the coffers of academics. Hence the members of the university "hierarchy" made it their "business, the business for which they . .. [were] paid," to "uphold certain political as well as religious opinions," namely those of the "ruling powers of the state" (Mill 1981: 429: and 1988b: 350). Thus the universities pursued with vigor their assignment to inculcate in their students those political and ideological views that were cherished by the power elite. The graduates of the ancient universities were, therefore, well prepared for employment in, and by, those institutions that were instrumental in perpetuating the existing maldistribution of income. All of this might come to naught, however, if the masses of the underclass should achieve anything approaching success in potential attempts at throwing off their fetters. The state devised a second educational strategy in order to prevent such a calamity from occurring. According to Mill, the "elementary schools for children of the working classes" were given the task of ensuring that the poor would continue to accept docilely their dismal station in life. It was very easy for the state to force the public schools to assume this role. It did so simply by failing malignantly to allocate sufficient funds for the operations of what Mill identified contemptuously as "places called schools" (Mill 1982: 200; emphasis in original). These places were therefore understaffed. Moreover, the few teachers who were actually employed were completely "unfit for their work." Hans E. Jensen, "John Stuart Mill's Theories of Wealth and Income Distribution". Review of Social Economy. Pages 491-507. Published online: 05 Nov 2010. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00346760110081599 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00346760110081599

by nafey 9y ago

keithwhor 9y ago

Sounds like you went to grad school. :) Edit: This is not facetious. YMMV, but many share this sentiment.

xapata 9y ago

Nearly every elitist subculture does this. Executives and management consultants have their own esoteric jargon. To amuse myself during conference calls, I used to invent silly dance moves to correspond to their various phrases as if the boss was at a square dance calling out the next step. "Circle back," "Align," "Come to Jesus," and of course, "Synergize!"

vecter 9y ago

What are academics controlling?

blusterXY 9y ago
tenure
fennecfoxen 9y ago
Indoctrination of the people who use the education system, of course. (Specifics and the ultimate impact are left as an exercise to the reader.)
- collyw 9y ago
  Actually listening to Jordan Peterson talking about some humanities subjects (gender studies for example), there may be some truth in this.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

osullivj 9y ago

There are shared cultural roots in monasticism in medieval Europe. The monasteries were keepers of books, learning and scholarship in the long interregnum after the fall of Rome and up to the Renaissance. Oxford, Cambridge, Bologna and the other ancient universities of Europe were founded early in the second millenium, and it was natural for them to take the monasteries as a template.

afpx 9y ago

In Human culture, accepted ideas are tightly associated with social status. Unfortunately, in my experience, social status isn't highly correlated with awesome ideas. That's why low-status people (like myself) who thrive on seeing novel ideas be realized must quickly learn the art of 'managing upwards' (i.e. Making one's boss think it was their idea).

dredmorbius 9y ago

A pretty well-recognised truth. J.S. Mill on 19th century Britain, via Hans E. Jensen: First, the universities were given the task of providing an unceasing supply of ideologically correct candidates for vital positions in government, church and business. The state was able to make the faculties of the "'venerable institutions'" of higher education, or rather indoctrination, assume this duty because it controlled appointments and held the purse from which "emoluments" flowed into the coffers of academics. Hence the members of the university "hierarchy" made it their "business, the business for which they . .. [were] paid," to "uphold certain political as well as religious opinions," namely those of the "ruling powers of the state" (Mill 1981: 429: and 1988b: 350). Thus the universities pursued with vigor their assignment to inculcate in their students those political and ideological views that were cherished by the power elite. The graduates of the ancient universities were, therefore, well prepared for employment in, and by, those institutions that were instrumental in perpetuating the existing maldistribution of income. All of this might come to naught, however, if the masses of the underclass should achieve anything approaching success in potential attempts at throwing off their fetters. The state devised a second educational strategy in order to prevent such a calamity from occurring. According to Mill, the "elementary schools for children of the working classes" were given the task of ensuring that the poor would continue to accept docilely their dismal station in life. It was very easy for the state to force the public schools to assume this role. It did so simply by failing malignantly to allocate sufficient funds for the operations of what Mill identified contemptuously as "places called schools" (Mill 1982: 200; emphasis in original). These places were therefore understaffed. Moreover, the few teachers who were actually employed were completely "unfit for their work." Hans E. Jensen, "John Stuart Mill's Theories of Wealth and Income Distribution". Review of Social Economy. Pages 491-507. Published online: 05 Nov 2010. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00346760110081599 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00346760110081599