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"Students are being taught by these postmodern professors that there is no truth, that science and empirical facts are tools of oppression by the white patriarc

"Students are being taught by these postmodern professors that there is no truth, that science and empirical facts are tools of oppression by the white patriarchy, and that nearly everyone in America is racist and bigoted, including their own professors, most of whom are liberals or progressives devoted to fighting these social ills." What's the source for this? Why should I take this article more seriously than a random screed on social media?

Apocryphon 9y ago
It's pretty alarming and sad that Scientific American is publishing politicized op-eds these days.
- purplezooey 9y ago
  It is?
jdauriemma 9y ago
Exactly. The article starts out fairly well-supported, citing other works and building an argument. Then it all unravels with that outlandish, unsupported statement.
mizzack 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars#Postmodernism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars#Postmodernism
- gedy 9y ago
  Also: https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy
anonmoose123 9y ago
A good book on the subject is "Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science" by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt. Summary: With the emergence of "cultural studies" and the blurring of once-clear academic boundaries, scholars are turning to subjects far outside their traditional disciplines and areas of expertise. In Higher Superstition scientists Paul Gross and Norman Levitt raise serious questions about the growing criticism of science by humanists and social scientists on the "academic left."
alexanderstears 9y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SiRNibD14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SiRNibD14
candiodari 9y ago
The first part of that statement is the basis of postmodernism. No truth, no (valid) science, no reality. That means that everything, including science, computers, ... is only there for $reason_of_some_other_ideology. Usually some outlandish far-fetched stupidity. E.g. did you know math only serves to oppress muslims ? Computer science has only one function : make black people slaves again ? And the second part of the given statement is a very popular ideology on campus. Together, let's call it "applied postmodernism", because, well ... that's what it is. That postmodernism means science isn't valid, a view unlikely to be well-considered by most postmodernists in America and on campus, isn't too surprising since the search for truth and the standards of truth in science are themselves ideological. And the ones we use are very much part of the Greek-Christian "Western Civilization" ideology and it's evolution over time. It is very much not a popular viewpoint. The evolution of most, if not all sciences, very much happened within Western Civilization, Christianity and after 2000 years of that, odds are that half of postmodernism is kind of true : that the Christian worldview is part of most sciences and that most or all other ideologies and religious viewpoints are rejected very fundamentally. But if you look at history, Christianity is pretty unique in that it never fully exterminated science in it's world. Note: this happened despite trying repeatedly to extuinguish it, but every time other Christians saved and "re-booted" it (you could go further and point out that while plenty of countries and even international movements tried to snuff out science, the Vatican never did, and always managed to protect itself and it's archives and teachers, so you could even say that Christianity protected science). Most or all civlizations advanced in science, but it never lasted. In most or all other civilizations science was snuffed out, usually either to make a revolution happen or to protect entrenched interests. In a few, external military invasion destroyed it.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > But if you look at history, Christianity is pretty unique in that it never fully exterminated science in it's world No, its not. No major world religion did that, and nothing that did that would have survived as a major world religion or culture.
  - candiodari 9y ago
dragonwriter 9y ago
Post-modernism is an actual thing, but in these kinds of attacks on the academy it's mostly just a post-Cold War replacement for the Communist boogeyman that doesn't have any firm connection to reality.

Apocryphon 9y ago

It's pretty alarming and sad that Scientific American is publishing politicized op-eds these days.

purplezooey 9y ago
It is?

jdauriemma 9y ago

Exactly. The article starts out fairly well-supported, citing other works and building an argument. Then it all unravels with that outlandish, unsupported statement.

mizzack 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars#Postmodernism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars#Postmodernism

gedy 9y ago
Also: https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

anonmoose123 9y ago

A good book on the subject is "Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science" by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt. Summary: With the emergence of "cultural studies" and the blurring of once-clear academic boundaries, scholars are turning to subjects far outside their traditional disciplines and areas of expertise. In Higher Superstition scientists Paul Gross and Norman Levitt raise serious questions about the growing criticism of science by humanists and social scientists on the "academic left."

alexanderstears 9y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SiRNibD14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SiRNibD14

candiodari 9y ago

The first part of that statement is the basis of postmodernism. No truth, no (valid) science, no reality. That means that everything, including science, computers, ... is only there for $reason_of_some_other_ideology. Usually some outlandish far-fetched stupidity. E.g. did you know math only serves to oppress muslims ? Computer science has only one function : make black people slaves again ? And the second part of the given statement is a very popular ideology on campus. Together, let's call it "applied postmodernism", because, well ... that's what it is. That postmodernism means science isn't valid, a view unlikely to be well-considered by most postmodernists in America and on campus, isn't too surprising since the search for truth and the standards of truth in science are themselves ideological. And the ones we use are very much part of the Greek-Christian "Western Civilization" ideology and it's evolution over time. It is very much not a popular viewpoint. The evolution of most, if not all sciences, very much happened within Western Civilization, Christianity and after 2000 years of that, odds are that half of postmodernism is kind of true : that the Christian worldview is part of most sciences and that most or all other ideologies and religious viewpoints are rejected very fundamentally. But if you look at history, Christianity is pretty unique in that it never fully exterminated science in it's world. Note: this happened despite trying repeatedly to extuinguish it, but every time other Christians saved and "re-booted" it (you could go further and point out that while plenty of countries and even international movements tried to snuff out science, the Vatican never did, and always managed to protect itself and it's archives and teachers, so you could even say that Christianity protected science). Most or all civlizations advanced in science, but it never lasted. In most or all other civilizations science was snuffed out, usually either to make a revolution happen or to protect entrenched interests. In a few, external military invasion destroyed it.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> But if you look at history, Christianity is pretty unique in that it never fully exterminated science in it's world No, its not. No major world religion did that, and nothing that did that would have survived as a major world religion or culture.
- candiodari 9y ago

dragonwriter 9y ago

Post-modernism is an actual thing, but in these kinds of attacks on the academy it's mostly just a post-Cold War replacement for the Communist boogeyman that doesn't have any firm connection to reality.