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> I interact very heavily with academics (though am thankfully no longer one myself) and one thing I can't stand is that all of them will complain endlessly abo

> I interact very heavily with academics (though am thankfully no longer one myself) and one thing I can't stand is that all of them will complain endlessly about the horribly abusive and broken system that academia has become, then without hesitation turn around and flog the next person in line when it's their turn to continue the process from the abusing side. Completely agree. > The amount of bullshit being produced and regurgitated in academia needs to be called out. Your definition of "unprofessional" is just "this makes us look bad" No, it isn't. First off, I'm not in the academia. I'm not part of the "us". It doesn't affect me if person A is attacking people B. For me I don't care at all. Also, I specifically said that the problem wasn't criticism. The problem is criticism so vague it's impossible to defend, because there's nothing to address. Person A says that person B is superficial. Person B responds "no I'm not". Very substantive!

SantalBlush 4y ago
The HN crowd generally hates academia with a passion and will welcome any criticism of it, regardless of how vague it is.
- buitreVirtual 4y ago
  The HN crowd hates bullshit, which is different.
  - SantalBlush 4y ago
    Well yeah, everyone thinks they hate bullshit. That doesn't mean they're good at identifying it.
hnfong 4y ago
"I'm someone who finished a PhD" doesn't help your claims. But I digress. The real question is, why do personal opinions like "xxx is superficial" needs to be defendable? Is academia somehow a "protected class" of individuals where we need to keep our opinions to ourselves unless we have hard evidence? Or is this a standard you hold against other PhDs? Because the OP stated they quit, so it doesn't really apply. I can totally empathize with the GP's claim that 'Your definition of "unprofessional" is just "this makes us look bad"'. You might not be in academia per se, but it seems to me like you picked up that mode of thinking nonetheless. And no, I didn't keep my opinions to myself despite I have no proof whatsoever. Sue me for unprofessionalism please.

SantalBlush 4y ago

The HN crowd generally hates academia with a passion and will welcome any criticism of it, regardless of how vague it is.

buitreVirtual 4y ago
The HN crowd hates bullshit, which is different.
- SantalBlush 4y ago
  Well yeah, everyone thinks they hate bullshit. That doesn't mean they're good at identifying it.

hnfong 4y ago

"I'm someone who finished a PhD" doesn't help your claims. But I digress. The real question is, why do personal opinions like "xxx is superficial" needs to be defendable? Is academia somehow a "protected class" of individuals where we need to keep our opinions to ourselves unless we have hard evidence? Or is this a standard you hold against other PhDs? Because the OP stated they quit, so it doesn't really apply. I can totally empathize with the GP's claim that 'Your definition of "unprofessional" is just "this makes us look bad"'. You might not be in academia per se, but it seems to me like you picked up that mode of thinking nonetheless. And no, I didn't keep my opinions to myself despite I have no proof whatsoever. Sue me for unprofessionalism please.