Excellent piece. Looking forward to the book. While I generally agree with all of it, I'd like to see some deeper root causes addressed: the turn of academia from knowledge creation to activism, and the similar turn of journalism to activism. Karl Marx may have dismissed traditional philosophy in favor of saving the world (in his view), …
Excellent piece. Looking forward to the book. While I generally agree with all of it, I'd like to see some deeper root causes addressed: the turn of academia from knowledge creation to activism, and the similar turn of journalism to activism. Karl Marx may have dismissed traditional philosophy in favor of saving the world (in his view), but is it really a good idea that those entrusted with the discovery and transmission of knowledge to be pushing ideological agendas?
I agree activism is the driving force behind the lies and censorship of speech. Critical pedagogy bears a lot of the blame. It explicitly considers all education to be political, and is dedicated to using education to support the struggle of what it labels as “the oppressed” against those it labels as “the oppressors.” I’m not saying it’s devoid of truth. There are some important truths in it. But it is not about trying to find the truth or teach the truth. It is about teaching half truths to instill a desired ideology in students in order to motivate them to serve a sociopolitical agenda. Not surprisingly, the result is as intended – indoctrination, politicization, and radicalization. In the noble struggle against the violent oppressors (and they define virtually everything the “oppressors” do or say as being “violent”) respecting the truth and free speech becomes secondary, and even a betrayal, if it undermines serving the cause of righteousness. The same process is common from other points on the political spectrum when people cannot win over enough hearts and minds with the truth and free and open discussions, combined with a lack of principles and respect for the opinions and equality of others. Sadly, despite complaining of this approach by progressives, Trump, and too many of his supporters are engaged in the same approach. It is all destructive to the health of our republic.
I agree with you for the most part, and your point about activism is absolutely true—Factory schooling never aimed for activism, only conformity at least until recently... but ideology always has been there, and extends into academia in subtle ways. The way we approach research is a prime example. There's a big divide between two main types of research methods: quantitative [using numbers, statistics, and measurable data] and qualitative [focusing on personal experiences, emotions, and subjective interpretations]. This divide reflects ideological assumptions about what counts as valid knowledge and how it should be pursued, which can box disciplines into narrow lanes of acceptable thought. This creates conformity in academic thinking.
The overreliance on qualitative methods, focusing on personal experiences, emotions, and subjective interpretations, is particularly problematic; much of the research on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is conducted knowing that it's biased. Instead of addressing this bias, researchers often justify it by saying that other people will come along later to fix it or balance it out. The problem arises when researchers (as often happens lately) try to pass their subjective research as objective truth!. With policy based on this poor research.
On the other hand, quantitative research tries to measure things objectively and prove ideas with numbers and facts. Academics rarely combine both approaches, even though doing so would provide a fuller understanding and get rid of a lot of bad research. It would also create clearer thinking and reasoning skills.
The root of this issue lies in the pervasive ideology that has stifled genuine knowledge gathering and homogenized the academic experience We're entire disciplines only study from one viewpoint instead of mixed methods
This failure to cultivate critical thinking limits the quality of research but stunts intellectual growth of generations of students (Of students that wanted to learn). Since universities are one of the few places where students should be learning these skills, it's a travesty to leave them so ill-equipped—and even worse to leave science dangling without the ability to look for facts over opinion, question assumptions from multiple angles, and generate genuinely original thought. The academic world is poorer for this loss, and society as a whole suffers from the lack of truly independent, critical thinkers capable of addressing complex problems in innovative ways. All because of ideology....
Excellent piece. Looking forward to the book. While I generally agree with all of it, I'd like to see some deeper root causes addressed: the turn of academia from knowledge creation to activism, and the similar turn of journalism to activism. Karl Marx may have dismissed traditional philosophy in favor of saving the world (in his view), but is it really a good idea that those entrusted with the discovery and transmission of knowledge to be pushing ideological agendas?
I agree activism is the driving force behind the lies and censorship of speech. Critical pedagogy bears a lot of the blame. It explicitly considers all education to be political, and is dedicated to using education to support the struggle of what it labels as “the oppressed” against those it labels as “the oppressors.” I’m not saying it’s devoid of truth. There are some important truths in it. But it is not about trying to find the truth or teach the truth. It is about teaching half truths to instill a desired ideology in students in order to motivate them to serve a sociopolitical agenda. Not surprisingly, the result is as intended – indoctrination, politicization, and radicalization. In the noble struggle against the violent oppressors (and they define virtually everything the “oppressors” do or say as being “violent”) respecting the truth and free speech becomes secondary, and even a betrayal, if it undermines serving the cause of righteousness. The same process is common from other points on the political spectrum when people cannot win over enough hearts and minds with the truth and free and open discussions, combined with a lack of principles and respect for the opinions and equality of others. Sadly, despite complaining of this approach by progressives, Trump, and too many of his supporters are engaged in the same approach. It is all destructive to the health of our republic.
I agree with you for the most part, and your point about activism is absolutely true—Factory schooling never aimed for activism, only conformity at least until recently... but ideology always has been there, and extends into academia in subtle ways. The way we approach research is a prime example. There's a big divide between two main types of research methods: quantitative [using numbers, statistics, and measurable data] and qualitative [focusing on personal experiences, emotions, and subjective interpretations]. This divide reflects ideological assumptions about what counts as valid knowledge and how it should be pursued, which can box disciplines into narrow lanes of acceptable thought. This creates conformity in academic thinking.
The overreliance on qualitative methods, focusing on personal experiences, emotions, and subjective interpretations, is particularly problematic; much of the research on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is conducted knowing that it's biased. Instead of addressing this bias, researchers often justify it by saying that other people will come along later to fix it or balance it out. The problem arises when researchers (as often happens lately) try to pass their subjective research as objective truth!. With policy based on this poor research.
On the other hand, quantitative research tries to measure things objectively and prove ideas with numbers and facts. Academics rarely combine both approaches, even though doing so would provide a fuller understanding and get rid of a lot of bad research. It would also create clearer thinking and reasoning skills.
The root of this issue lies in the pervasive ideology that has stifled genuine knowledge gathering and homogenized the academic experience We're entire disciplines only study from one viewpoint instead of mixed methods
This failure to cultivate critical thinking limits the quality of research but stunts intellectual growth of generations of students (Of students that wanted to learn). Since universities are one of the few places where students should be learning these skills, it's a travesty to leave them so ill-equipped—and even worse to leave science dangling without the ability to look for facts over opinion, question assumptions from multiple angles, and generate genuinely original thought. The academic world is poorer for this loss, and society as a whole suffers from the lack of truly independent, critical thinkers capable of addressing complex problems in innovative ways. All because of ideology....