5 ms·

The Yale Directed Studies program is no joke -- it tends to attract the most motivated humanities students and to have incredible amounts of work and reading.

The Yale Directed Studies program is no joke -- it tends to attract the most motivated humanities students and to have incredible amounts of work and reading. Impressive that he's taking it, but he's also seeing a somewhat more serious class of students who, by extension, are less likely to be snowflakes.

mistrial9 7y ago
> snowflakes what does that mean ?
- runjake 7y ago
  Read the article where he describes the meaning? It's a reference from the book/movie, Fight Club. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang)#Unique_or_special_snowflake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang)#Unique_or_sp...
- ThrowawayR2 7y ago
  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang) The "Other Uses" section is interesting; I didn't know about its (now historical) use by abolitionists in a different meaning.
asdfman123 7y ago
Are you sure that relationship holds true? I've talked to more ordinary college students and they're pretty reasonable, normal people too. Perhaps what's more likely is a tiny fraction of toxic people who use the social justice toolbox illegitimately are amplified disproportionately. The world has always had toxic annoying people. There's always been that lady at church that pretends to be into Jesus but secretly just likes to dominate and bully others. Most people you meet though are pretty reasonable and nice. Try to see the humanity in people who aren't like you.
- didgeoridoo 7y ago
  The point is that the tiny toxic fraction is unlikely to pursue a curriculum that starts with the assumption that the western canon is worth reading and understanding deeply.
  - asdfman123 7y ago
    You're missing the point. Try engaging with people -- and I mean engaging with them, not talking at them or even arguing with them -- and don't make so many assumptions.
    - didgeoridoo 7y ago
      I think we’re talking past each other? I’m not making a value judgment per se. It is simply a fact that many in the toxic social justice group you reference do not believe that the work of dead white males is particularly interesting or important. Thus, they tend to self-select out of classes with an emphasis on the western canon. This isn’t an assumption — it’s an observation about many of my friends who took DS (I couldn’t hack it myself!)
      - asdfman123 7y ago
        > toxic social justice group What group is that? Where can I find such a group that only has toxic members interested in social justice? > do not believe that the work of dead white males Does everyone in that group believe that specific thing as well? > self-select out of classes with an emphasis on the western canon What percentage of those people outright reject the Western cannon as not worth learning? Do some of them think it's worthwhile to learn, but also want to get other perspectives as well so don't take quite so many of those classes? I'm not trying to nitpick or go line-by-line, but just asking you to question your judgments about people. I find people are overwhelmingly more nuanced and reasonable than is often assumed. It's like when people talk about "the south" as if it were one thing. I'm from the south, and if you get two random people who live in the southern US (or any part of the world) they will both be individuals with a complex system of beliefs. I mean, even when you start generalizing about people, different neighborhoods in Houston contain very different people of different viewpoints and circumstances. And then there are rural areas, different socioeconomic spectrums, etc. etc. etc. Don't lump people together. And I'm not trying to hand wave all analysis of people as "too complex to understand," but just to realize that people might be quite a bit different than you think if you give them the benefit of the doubt.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
hangonhn 7y ago
Fellow DS alum? I still rate DS as among the hardest things I've done (although partly because I was too inexperienced to know how to pace/schedule my work correctly). Everything that followed felt so easy afterwards. Sophomore to senior years all felt like a breeze compared to DS. It also had a fairly profound effect on my intellectual development. Even though I graduated with a degree in CS, most of my non-work reading is still in the humanities -- mostly history and political science.
- gbronner 7y ago
  I did the Princeton version, and studied math before CS, but same idea. I spent the two years after graduation filling in gaps in my philosophy and history background. It provides a very useful intellectual framework insofar as it shows the history and interconnectedness of ideas from disparate cultures and time periods.

mistrial9 7y ago

> snowflakes what does that mean ?

runjake 7y ago
Read the article where he describes the meaning? It's a reference from the book/movie, Fight Club. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang)#Unique_or_special_snowflake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang)#Unique_or_sp...
ThrowawayR2 7y ago
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_(slang) The "Other Uses" section is interesting; I didn't know about its (now historical) use by abolitionists in a different meaning.

asdfman123 7y ago

Are you sure that relationship holds true? I've talked to more ordinary college students and they're pretty reasonable, normal people too. Perhaps what's more likely is a tiny fraction of toxic people who use the social justice toolbox illegitimately are amplified disproportionately. The world has always had toxic annoying people. There's always been that lady at church that pretends to be into Jesus but secretly just likes to dominate and bully others. Most people you meet though are pretty reasonable and nice. Try to see the humanity in people who aren't like you.

didgeoridoo 7y ago
The point is that the tiny toxic fraction is unlikely to pursue a curriculum that starts with the assumption that the western canon is worth reading and understanding deeply.
- asdfman123 7y ago
  You're missing the point. Try engaging with people -- and I mean engaging with them, not talking at them or even arguing with them -- and don't make so many assumptions.
  - didgeoridoo 7y ago
    I think we’re talking past each other? I’m not making a value judgment per se. It is simply a fact that many in the toxic social justice group you reference do not believe that the work of dead white males is particularly interesting or important. Thus, they tend to self-select out of classes with an emphasis on the western canon. This isn’t an assumption — it’s an observation about many of my friends who took DS (I couldn’t hack it myself!)
    - asdfman123 7y ago
      > toxic social justice group What group is that? Where can I find such a group that only has toxic members interested in social justice? > do not believe that the work of dead white males Does everyone in that group believe that specific thing as well? > self-select out of classes with an emphasis on the western canon What percentage of those people outright reject the Western cannon as not worth learning? Do some of them think it's worthwhile to learn, but also want to get other perspectives as well so don't take quite so many of those classes? I'm not trying to nitpick or go line-by-line, but just asking you to question your judgments about people. I find people are overwhelmingly more nuanced and reasonable than is often assumed. It's like when people talk about "the south" as if it were one thing. I'm from the south, and if you get two random people who live in the southern US (or any part of the world) they will both be individuals with a complex system of beliefs. I mean, even when you start generalizing about people, different neighborhoods in Houston contain very different people of different viewpoints and circumstances. And then there are rural areas, different socioeconomic spectrums, etc. etc. etc. Don't lump people together. And I'm not trying to hand wave all analysis of people as "too complex to understand," but just to realize that people might be quite a bit different than you think if you give them the benefit of the doubt.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

hangonhn 7y ago

Fellow DS alum? I still rate DS as among the hardest things I've done (although partly because I was too inexperienced to know how to pace/schedule my work correctly). Everything that followed felt so easy afterwards. Sophomore to senior years all felt like a breeze compared to DS. It also had a fairly profound effect on my intellectual development. Even though I graduated with a degree in CS, most of my non-work reading is still in the humanities -- mostly history and political science.

gbronner 7y ago
I did the Princeton version, and studied math before CS, but same idea. I spent the two years after graduation filling in gaps in my philosophy and history background. It provides a very useful intellectual framework insofar as it shows the history and interconnectedness of ideas from disparate cultures and time periods.