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Those are good points. However, I do think we will look back at the large amount of postmodern literature inspired by Foucault and deidre as obfuscatory to know

Those are good points. However, I do think we will look back at the large amount of postmodern literature inspired by Foucault and deidre as obfuscatory to knowledge seeking. They essentially wrap simple concepts within a format that require immense effort to parse, maybe to present an intellectual challenge or to obfuscate what is actually said. Great for staying fashionable as a tool for showing academic belonging in Parisian coffee shops due to the amount of studying needed to pierce the veil, but not so great for knowledge seeking. To me it seems like what they are saying are: - culture is adapted to get the marginal to conform to the majority (Foucault marginal sexual identity that caused him to attempt suicide) - culture corrupts the pristine child’s mind (Rousseau inspired) - either you apply cultural power or you are a victim to cultural power These are interesting to some degree, but not when used to argue for a deconstruction of all experiences into identity groups like postmodernists have. I think they’ve abandoned their academic duty to try to construct world views contiguous both within themselves and to the larger culture.

TelmoMenezes 8y ago
> Those are good points. However, I do think we will look back at the large amount of postmodern literature inspired by Foucault and deidre as obfuscatory to knowledge seeking. Postmodernism, at its core, is precisely a criticism of conventional epistemology. I am not a postmoderinst, but I do find that some of their views are interesting, or at least worth considering. I would not be surprised if you are right, and that postmodernism goes down in history as a fool's errand. In any case, I think that it is good that people kick the foundations of knowledge to see what happens. If nobody does that, it becomes very easy to fall into religion/ideology without noticing. To borrow a term from another thinker who also hates postmodernism (I think), knowledge should be anti-fragile. > showing academic belonging in Parisian coffee shops You are absolutely right about this part. Just don't think that Sillicon Valley's Matcha Tea Boutique Shops are so different. The environment is also full of terms and clichés that mostly serve to signal tribal alignment, that really say nothing new and only create a barrier of entry for outsiders: "let us create a curated list of use-cases for under-the-radar angel round startups that are attempting to leverage blockchain technologies for adtech verticals." > culture is adapted to get the marginal to conform to the majority (Foucault marginal sexual identity that caused him to attempt suicide) Right, but he also has some interesting things to say about our relationship with the "mentally ill", how that relationship is different in other societies and why our approach may be pathological for all of us. For example. > culture corrupts the pristine child’s mind (Rousseau inspired) Some might say this, but overall culture is just taken as a powerful force that shapes the reality we inhabit. The thing is that, if one doesn't cherry-pick, some postmodernist ideas actually became mainstream. "We inhabit narratives." > either you apply cultural power or you are a victim to cultural power I think this is mostly true. No problem if you disagree, but it doesn't seem like such a crazy hypothesis to me. > but not when used to argue for a deconstruction of all experiences into identity groups like postmodernists have This is a confusion between postmodernism in general and "grievance studies". > I think they’ve abandoned their academic duty to try to construct world views contiguous both within themselves and to the larger culture. For me, the academic duty is to think seriously and independently. Any other red line only guarantees that we get stuck in local maxima. I think that the unusual views should have a place, and knowledge seekers should make an effort to understand them if they are going to criticize them.

TelmoMenezes 8y ago

> Those are good points. However, I do think we will look back at the large amount of postmodern literature inspired by Foucault and deidre as obfuscatory to knowledge seeking. Postmodernism, at its core, is precisely a criticism of conventional epistemology. I am not a postmoderinst, but I do find that some of their views are interesting, or at least worth considering. I would not be surprised if you are right, and that postmodernism goes down in history as a fool's errand. In any case, I think that it is good that people kick the foundations of knowledge to see what happens. If nobody does that, it becomes very easy to fall into religion/ideology without noticing. To borrow a term from another thinker who also hates postmodernism (I think), knowledge should be anti-fragile. > showing academic belonging in Parisian coffee shops You are absolutely right about this part. Just don't think that Sillicon Valley's Matcha Tea Boutique Shops are so different. The environment is also full of terms and clichés that mostly serve to signal tribal alignment, that really say nothing new and only create a barrier of entry for outsiders: "let us create a curated list of use-cases for under-the-radar angel round startups that are attempting to leverage blockchain technologies for adtech verticals." > culture is adapted to get the marginal to conform to the majority (Foucault marginal sexual identity that caused him to attempt suicide) Right, but he also has some interesting things to say about our relationship with the "mentally ill", how that relationship is different in other societies and why our approach may be pathological for all of us. For example. > culture corrupts the pristine child’s mind (Rousseau inspired) Some might say this, but overall culture is just taken as a powerful force that shapes the reality we inhabit. The thing is that, if one doesn't cherry-pick, some postmodernist ideas actually became mainstream. "We inhabit narratives." > either you apply cultural power or you are a victim to cultural power I think this is mostly true. No problem if you disagree, but it doesn't seem like such a crazy hypothesis to me. > but not when used to argue for a deconstruction of all experiences into identity groups like postmodernists have This is a confusion between postmodernism in general and "grievance studies". > I think they’ve abandoned their academic duty to try to construct world views contiguous both within themselves and to the larger culture. For me, the academic duty is to think seriously and independently. Any other red line only guarantees that we get stuck in local maxima. I think that the unusual views should have a place, and knowledge seekers should make an effort to understand them if they are going to criticize them.