4 ms·

-I'm sure I can't just email these professors and say "hey, want to chat?"- Why not? I am a barista with a high school dimploma and no interest in higher educa

by emhart 13y ago

-I'm sure I can't just email these professors and say "hey, want to chat?"- Why not? I am a barista with a high school dimploma and no interest in higher education, but I have emailed linguists and archaeologists to ask questions and discuss my independent research. In most cases I have heard back within 24 hours, in one, where the gentleman I reached out to had a 32 page CV, had held multiple chairs, and ran 2 institutions, I heard back from him within the hour. In each case I was received with enthusiasm and treated as a peer who just needed some questions answered. It was a revelation for me, and I'm just some guy. I suggest that if you are active in both your field of study and academia, you should absolutely reach out to the experts in your field. As Regina Spektor says, "People are just people, they shouldn't make you nervous."

rz2k 13y ago
That's pretty impressive. I followed a couple links, and enjoyed reading this: http://ronininstitute.org/in-defense-of-the-independent-academic-lifestyle/412/ http://ronininstitute.org/in-defense-of-the-independent-acad... Is independent academia a big thing?
- emhart 13y ago
  I have been sitting for 20 minutes now, trying to come up with an answer to this. Simply, I don't know. For me, I hope that being able to put "Ronin" down in the "institute" field on CFPs and research grants allows my work to be taken seriously. It's hard to corral a movement out of "independents" but Jon Wilkins and the folks at Ronin are devoting themselves to it. I believe it's people like Jon who are giving me the chance to be someday remembered as someone who contributed to the sum total of human knowledge, rather than just some guy who knew a lot about locks.
616c 13y ago
Good for you, and I seriously mean that. One of my friends, who actually finished a BA and dropped out of a MA degree (not to say your educational credentials matter, but it will become relevant later in my post) had some really neat ideas on ancient Semitic linguistics, related to a bunch of wall inscriptions he found out about while living in Egypt. He later tried to contact the foremost authority, a Western academic who is one of the few who had any interest or academic weight (with a topic this esoteric, I imagine the former is more important) and present his ideas. Needless to say, that ancient Semitic linguist was not amused. He not only ripped into my friend, but at the suggestion my friend visit the site that inspired him to do said research, the professor mentioned he had an exclusive memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian governmental body in charge of the antiquities, and threatened him if he ever visited without the permission the professor had no intention of providing, he would be arrested. Keep in mind he was not even in the locale, but in the United States. I saw subsequent emails where he refused to even consider my friends theories, and was increasingly dismissive. So my friend, not easily discouraged, went on to contacting the less than a dozen experts in this field, few with any knowledge on this period. He presented paper drafts to several; many ignored, and those who responded rudely dismissed him without getting into the content. Maybe it is just because the field is narrow, but I suspect certain academic disciplines believe in some kind of job security, and pouncing on amateurs and pushing them out the door, regardless of their perceived contribution to the field, is paramount. I am glad you have had the opposite experience. I too a masters degree dropout from an accelerated program, and left with out the masters in the bachelors masters combo. Why? Because despite the money I never had experiences like you in school. All the teachers in my program, despite thinking my knowledge level was quite strong and generally liked me, disliked meeting with me outside of class or pushing me to read or study things we could discuss. I got disheartened, and was disgusted at how many teachers do not belong in academia, and just like the echo chamber of their own ideas. I know I could have made a better effort, but the lack of effort on their end to sit and talk with anyone who had a modicum of interest was shocking to me. To this day, I wish private universities would take the out of class contact more seriously in evaluating professors, because your comment proves no one is too busy to talk on academic subject they are passionate about. My friend's anecdote just shows some cliques are just that, and letting anyone is calculated risk to the group regardless of contribution; some people will never take that risk. I just wish assholes like that would go somewhere else other than a university setting. tl;dr I had the opposite experience with academics, and one of my friends tried hard in a very small domain and had even worse results; YMMV and some academics have no interest in spreading knowledge at all. Fuck them.
- emhart 13y ago
  Ugh, that's awful. I have on occasion been made aware how atypical my educational experiences have been. My secondary education was filled with teachers who made it very clear that if I wanted to know something, it was always safe to ask, and that I would be rewarded for my intellectual curiosity. I've only had one memorable explicitly negative experience where I was openly mocked for asking about something outside of my experience, but my indignation far exceeded my embarrassment in that incident. I keep a text file on my laptop named "youcantalktoanyone.txt" with the contact info for a few people who's work in interested in. One by one, as I have something to contribute, or need clarification on their work, I get in touch. I forget sometimes how lucky I've been.
- xradionut 13y ago
  "YMMV and some academics have no interest in spreading knowledge at all. Fuck them." This is true in many other areas of life. I found there's plenty of old farts in amateur radio and other hobbies, you just have to find the ones that are interested in mentoring and ignore the assholes that shit on everyone.
- nijk 13y ago
  OTOH, grave robbing is a real problem with Egyptian archaelogical site, and international politics is very sensitive. The prof doesn't want his research program shut down by someone strolling in and destroying a site.

by emhart 13y ago

rz2k 13y ago

That's pretty impressive. I followed a couple links, and enjoyed reading this: http://ronininstitute.org/in-defense-of-the-independent-academic-lifestyle/412/ http://ronininstitute.org/in-defense-of-the-independent-acad... Is independent academia a big thing?

emhart 13y ago
I have been sitting for 20 minutes now, trying to come up with an answer to this. Simply, I don't know. For me, I hope that being able to put "Ronin" down in the "institute" field on CFPs and research grants allows my work to be taken seriously. It's hard to corral a movement out of "independents" but Jon Wilkins and the folks at Ronin are devoting themselves to it. I believe it's people like Jon who are giving me the chance to be someday remembered as someone who contributed to the sum total of human knowledge, rather than just some guy who knew a lot about locks.

616c 13y ago

Good for you, and I seriously mean that. One of my friends, who actually finished a BA and dropped out of a MA degree (not to say your educational credentials matter, but it will become relevant later in my post) had some really neat ideas on ancient Semitic linguistics, related to a bunch of wall inscriptions he found out about while living in Egypt. He later tried to contact the foremost authority, a Western academic who is one of the few who had any interest or academic weight (with a topic this esoteric, I imagine the former is more important) and present his ideas. Needless to say, that ancient Semitic linguist was not amused. He not only ripped into my friend, but at the suggestion my friend visit the site that inspired him to do said research, the professor mentioned he had an exclusive memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian governmental body in charge of the antiquities, and threatened him if he ever visited without the permission the professor had no intention of providing, he would be arrested. Keep in mind he was not even in the locale, but in the United States. I saw subsequent emails where he refused to even consider my friends theories, and was increasingly dismissive. So my friend, not easily discouraged, went on to contacting the less than a dozen experts in this field, few with any knowledge on this period. He presented paper drafts to several; many ignored, and those who responded rudely dismissed him without getting into the content. Maybe it is just because the field is narrow, but I suspect certain academic disciplines believe in some kind of job security, and pouncing on amateurs and pushing them out the door, regardless of their perceived contribution to the field, is paramount. I am glad you have had the opposite experience. I too a masters degree dropout from an accelerated program, and left with out the masters in the bachelors masters combo. Why? Because despite the money I never had experiences like you in school. All the teachers in my program, despite thinking my knowledge level was quite strong and generally liked me, disliked meeting with me outside of class or pushing me to read or study things we could discuss. I got disheartened, and was disgusted at how many teachers do not belong in academia, and just like the echo chamber of their own ideas. I know I could have made a better effort, but the lack of effort on their end to sit and talk with anyone who had a modicum of interest was shocking to me. To this day, I wish private universities would take the out of class contact more seriously in evaluating professors, because your comment proves no one is too busy to talk on academic subject they are passionate about. My friend's anecdote just shows some cliques are just that, and letting anyone is calculated risk to the group regardless of contribution; some people will never take that risk. I just wish assholes like that would go somewhere else other than a university setting. tl;dr I had the opposite experience with academics, and one of my friends tried hard in a very small domain and had even worse results; YMMV and some academics have no interest in spreading knowledge at all. Fuck them.

emhart 13y ago
Ugh, that's awful. I have on occasion been made aware how atypical my educational experiences have been. My secondary education was filled with teachers who made it very clear that if I wanted to know something, it was always safe to ask, and that I would be rewarded for my intellectual curiosity. I've only had one memorable explicitly negative experience where I was openly mocked for asking about something outside of my experience, but my indignation far exceeded my embarrassment in that incident. I keep a text file on my laptop named "youcantalktoanyone.txt" with the contact info for a few people who's work in interested in. One by one, as I have something to contribute, or need clarification on their work, I get in touch. I forget sometimes how lucky I've been.
xradionut 13y ago
"YMMV and some academics have no interest in spreading knowledge at all. Fuck them." This is true in many other areas of life. I found there's plenty of old farts in amateur radio and other hobbies, you just have to find the ones that are interested in mentoring and ignore the assholes that shit on everyone.
nijk 13y ago
OTOH, grave robbing is a real problem with Egyptian archaelogical site, and international politics is very sensitive. The prof doesn't want his research program shut down by someone strolling in and destroying a site.