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Why are you so certain about the validity of your heuristics? There is a significant difference between the example in your analogy. If you are a maintainer o

Why are you so certain about the validity of your heuristics? There is a significant difference between the example in your analogy. If you are a maintainer of a code base, and you are looking at a merge commit from a stranger, you are the authority. The domain is the one you are the expert in, and you are encountering strangers of dubious credibility whose claims you have to evaluate drawing upon your experience. That's valid. But, judging from your example and the forum on which we are speaking, your domain is NOT sociology, psychology, philosophy, or politics (and whatever intersection of those fields leads to analysis of racism/gender discrimination etc). Maybe you took some classes in it. Maybe you even have a minor. But it's probably not your profession or area of study. Yet you are willing to dismiss academics who've chosen to spend years of their life studying these concepts, analyzing root causes, and coming up with conclusions. How does that work?

AussieWog93 6y ago
I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting you should dismiss academics offhand because they use certain words. However, when you hear people using academic buzzwords in a typical social situation (either online or offline), it's almost always the case that they're not an expert in the topic but instead just trying to show off how smart/woke/edgy they are by using some of the same language that the "thought leaders" do.
- deanCommie 6y ago
  Okay, but I feel like the same question applies. Why do you assume that you know more about these concepts (in social situations) than others you encounter do. But actually that assumes incompetence, you're actually suggesting malice if you say they are just trying to show off how woke/smart they are. If they are incompetent, why do you assume malice? And why does using the buzzwords suggest incompetence if the language is the same as the academics. How can you know these people aren't well educated on the subject. Remember, your thesis was that you ignore these people outright when they use these buzzwords. But you also admit academics use the same ones.

AussieWog93 6y ago

I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting you should dismiss academics offhand because they use certain words. However, when you hear people using academic buzzwords in a typical social situation (either online or offline), it's almost always the case that they're not an expert in the topic but instead just trying to show off how smart/woke/edgy they are by using some of the same language that the "thought leaders" do.

deanCommie 6y ago
Okay, but I feel like the same question applies. Why do you assume that you know more about these concepts (in social situations) than others you encounter do. But actually that assumes incompetence, you're actually suggesting malice if you say they are just trying to show off how woke/smart they are. If they are incompetent, why do you assume malice? And why does using the buzzwords suggest incompetence if the language is the same as the academics. How can you know these people aren't well educated on the subject. Remember, your thesis was that you ignore these people outright when they use these buzzwords. But you also admit academics use the same ones.