Interesting and timely article given recent events on college campuses.

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
Actually, colleges and universities in the U.S. are part of the "Education Industrial Complex" and designed to make big $$$ for the administrators and contractors instead of producing competent students.

Here in California, we've got the University Of California (UC) and the California State University System (CSU). Both of them are mostly pork barrel operations drawing $$$ from the state and federal government. However, relatively few students are studying anything that will get them a real job.

As an example, on the radio news I heard a story related to the police shooting of a black teenager in Chicago and they interviewed a Dr. Joe Schmoe who is head of the "Department Of Urban Ethnic And Race Relations" at one of the CSU campuses. Why in the Hell is CSU spending taxpayer's $$$ on this ridiculous department?

On another note, I heard a story about how some college grads are having a problem finding a job. However one college grads said he had a diploma in "Ethnic Studies", but couldn't understand why he couldn't find a job.

I yelled at the radio "Don't waste your time (and taxpayer's $$$) on a feckless endeavor". "If you want a real job and do something productive, become a plumber and learn how to fix a toilet".
 
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ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
Actually, colleges and universities in the U.S. are part of the "Education Industrial Complex" and designed to make big $$$ for the administrators and contractors instead of producing competent students.

Here in California, we've got the University Of California (UC) and the California State University System (CSU). Both of them are mostly pork barrel operations drawing $$$ from the state and federal government. However, relatively few students are studying anything that will get them a real job.

As an example, on the radio news I heard a story related to the police shooting of a black teenager in Chicago and they interviewed a Dr. Joe Schmoe who is head of the "Department Of Urban Ethnic And Race Relations" at one of the CSU campuses. Why in the Hell is CSU spending taxpayer's $$$ on this ridiculous department?

On another note, I heard a story about how some college grads are having a problem finding a job. However one college grads said he had a diploma in "Ethnic Studies", but couldn't understand why he couldn't find a job.

I yelled at the radio "Don't waste your time (and taxpayer's $$$) on a feckless endeavor". "If you want a real job and do something productive, become a plumber and learn how to fix a toilet".
Seems like there should be lots of jobs for them. Everyone has a course.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cser/about.html
Beats me.:rolleyes:
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
I found the backstory to the article @WBahn linked to was interesting as well. The genesis of a story is sparsely published.
Agreed. And some of the discussions in the comments are quite telling -- and largely confirm what the main article is talking about.

Interestingly, I was about halfway through reading the main article when yet another e-mail arrived in my inbox from yet another new center at the university (that has to be funded by ever higher tuition costs) that prattled on and on about the need to watch all the students for any signs that they might be having difficulty coping with anything and to be proactive about bringing it to the center's attention so that they can move swiftly to reduce or remove the factors that are troubling the student.

But aside from the nanny-state mentality that is absolutely rampant, what blows my mind is the increasingly blatant hypocrisy on display. For instance, students demand that a school form a committee on racial diversity but insist that it be filled strictly and solely by people of color. Example after example abound, but the most prevalent and disturbing ones are when the exact same groups that yell censorship if they aren't allowed to shout the most vile and hateful things anywhere and everywhere they want are the ones that demand that schools silence anyone that says anything that is not in lock step with their views. There used to be the famous saying, "I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Now it is becoming, "I disagree with what you have to so, so I will put you to death if you dare say it."
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
I wonder what they would think if they read the Constitution and discussed what it meant. That pesky first Amendment would cause quite the stir.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
But why should they have to worry about what some outdated, highly-flawed document that stemmed directly from white privilege says -- it's nothing more than an obstacle that is to be circumvented whenever it's inconvenient. Heck, at some schools they probably already have to give a trigger warning before they even mention the constitution since it is full of microaggressions. Surely someone in any given class is likely to find what it has to say "unwelcome" and therefore offensive.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
The guy which taught me about semiconductors and soldering to name a few things was the guitar player in this band.
Ok... and that relates to this discussion how? I can't make out a word that is being sung, so I am having a hard time figuring out the connection.
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
Ok... and that relates to this discussion how? I can't make out a word that is being sung, so I am having a hard time figuring out the connection.
After reading the article it just made me wonder how the American school system would deal with teachers like him...:(
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
Here are the lyrics.

"Rudolf does not ask the questions, Nor answer them but his suggestions, Sink into the mind of the mob, With throbbing heart, In blind belief, They act their parts with great relief Rudolf is your shade, your double, He knows your fear, your trouble, how far to travel. His presence will dispel your fears You are invited to share his fate United in your common hate"

*Edit. English was not their strongest trait as You might have noticed...
 
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cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
Agreed. And some of the discussions in the comments are quite telling -- and largely confirm what the main article is talking about.

Interestingly, I was about halfway through reading the main article when yet another e-mail arrived in my inbox from yet another new center at the university (that has to be funded by ever higher tuition costs) that prattled on and on about the need to watch all the students for any signs that they might be having difficulty coping with anything and to be proactive about bringing it to the center's attention so that they can move swiftly to reduce or remove the factors that are troubling the student.

But aside from the nanny-state mentality that is absolutely rampant, what blows my mind is the increasingly blatant hypocrisy on display. For instance, students demand that a school form a committee on racial diversity but insist that it be filled strictly and solely by people of color. Example after example abound, but the most prevalent and disturbing ones are when the exact same groups that yell censorship if they aren't allowed to shout the most vile and hateful things anywhere and everywhere they want are the ones that demand that schools silence anyone that says anything that is not in lock step with their views. There used to be the famous saying, "I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Now it is becoming, "I disagree with what you have to so, so I will put you to death if you dare say it."
In my opinion, we're suffering a rampant epidemic of "entitlement"... we've taught our students so much about how to "protect their self esteem" and "love and accept themselves" that they've completely forgotten (or have chosen to ignore) how to reciprocate and do unto others what they'd like others to do unto them...
Check this article, it's not my intention to stray from the subject, but it very accurately conveys what I'm trying to say.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
In my opinion, we're suffering a rampant epidemic of "entitlement"... we've taught our students so much about how to "protect their self esteem" and "love and accept themselves" that they've completely forgotten (or have chosen to ignore) how to reciprocate and do unto others what they'd like others to do unto them...
Check this article, it's not my intention to stray from the subject, but it very accurately conveys what I'm trying to say.
I think it's right on topic. I heard about this story on the radio earlier this week and on the one hand shook my head at yet another example of how blatantly self-absorbed and entitled these kids have become and, on the other, was so thrilled to finally see a university president with the gonads to stand up to one of them.
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
<my theory>
This is a small window of a much bigger picture.
This is evolution playing out in fast forward.
This is what happens in any system loop with perpetual positive feedback.

Our society, our technology, our way of life, and our thought processes are changing exponentially; exponential evolution.

I think people's world view didn't change dramatically in several hundred years previous, but now it's changing so fast that it can't evolve in a beneficial direction.

My sister is an 8th grade science teacher and to hear her stories shakes my faith in humanity. People are literally getting stupider.

This was brought about by computers and technology. People don't have to think for themselves any more. They don't have to know anything. They don't have to work hard for anything. They don't have to fight their own battles. They don't have to care. Their thoughts and opinions are created for them, and infused by an incessant barrage of video streams. Their thoughts don't make sense and that doesn't bother them because they aren't really their thoughts.

People's lives are so easy to live that don't know the value of human life. People's plights are so cushy that they don't have anything truly important to worry about. So they fill that void of self preservation instinct with whatever they can find. They make up boogeymen because there aren't any real ones to conquer. We are a conquering species and we have nothing to conquer so we are turning on ourselves. It boils down to: we are bored.

This is of course not in our best interest. We are evolving out of our most essential traits; all those that kept us alive so long. We are evolving into self destructive replacement traits. We are evolving so far and so fast that, like any system with perpetual positive feedback, we will spin ourselves into oblivion. we will reach a flashover point and then we will reset; a hundred years of bad habits unlearned. We will return to the tried and true human instincts and forsake all this namby pamby bullshit. We will do all this because there is no other option. Our current model is not sustainable.

</my theory>
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
It boils down to: we are bored.
That has also been my take on what's been going on in modern times for a long, long time... The thing is that we're not just bored, we're also mentally lazy and simply do not want to develop our cognitive abilities. So we've chosen a life full of sensory stimulus instead of one of introspection, and we get angry and even go into a rage when our complacency is interrupted by unwelcome events.
We've now become not just unwilling, but also unable to cope with adversity, and in our stupidity always start our reasoning (if there's still any left) by blaming others for our own shortcomings... and have become intellectual midgets in the process.

But as you've just implied, positive feedback always leads to instability, and I think that now we've reached a runaway point in which either an implosion or a violent backslash has become inevitable.
 

Thread Starter

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
I agree with both of you (@strantor and @cmartinez). The phenomenon itself isn't really new -- many times throughout history a civilization reaches a point where it no longer has to struggle just to meet the basic needs and so people start having the free time to ponder everything that is "wrong" with their society and to start demanding that someone fix it. So, someone comes along and promises to fix it and that person immediately has a following. They then have the influence to make promises to an even broader audience and so their following grows. That's a big part of the positive feedback -- and it doesn't matter whether or not their promises are sincere, possible, or even plausible. They aren't catering to the people that can think, they are catering to the larger mass of people that don't want to think, but just want to follow some savior.

Today we can simply drive the system to the rails that much faster -- we are victims of our own technological success. But, at the end of the day, I believe it still comes down to the observation that civilization is an inherently self-defeating concept. This is not to say that civilization is bad or should not be strived for, just that the best we can probably hope for is to make it last as long as it can before it collapses and to try to rebuild its successor as quickly as we can and as best we can.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
I agree with both of you (@strantor and @cmartinez). The phenomenon itself isn't really new -- many times throughout history a civilization reaches a point where it no longer has to struggle just to meet the basic needs and so people start having the free time to ponder everything that is "wrong" with there society and to start demanding that someone fix it. So, someone comes along and promises to fix it and that person immediately has a following. They then have the influence to make promises to an even broader audience and so their following grows. That's a big part of the positive feedback -- and it doesn't matter whether or not their promises are sincere, possible, or even plausible. They aren't catering to the people that can think, they are catering to the larger mass of people that don't want to think, but just want to follow some savior.

Today we can simply drive the system to the rails that much faster -- we are victims of our own technological success. But, at the end of the day, I believe it still comes down to the observation that civilization is an inherently self-defeating concept. This is not to say that civilization is bad or should not be strived for, just that the best we can probably hope for is to make it last as long as it can before it collapses and to try to rebuild its successor as quickly as we can and as best we can.
I'm not entirely sure about whether our civilization will end in collapse or not... but in the name of freedom and diversity we've been waging a war on all forms of traditional morality, and that has left us without a moral compass, leaving us in effect with a moral vacuum... And vacuums are never stable things, and whatever occupied that space will eventually be replaced by something else... which normally does not resemble the original intent.
 

boatsman

Joined Jan 17, 2008
187
I agree with strantor. People don't have to think for themselves anymore. Children cannot do simple calculations without a calculator. Opinions on any topic are aired on TV by talking heads, by so called experts. This PC craze will, I think by current events, be completely reversed in the near future. Things tend to go in cycles. For example in Britain Cromwell's Puritanism was replaced by the permissive Restoration; which in turn was replaced by the straitlaced Victorians and then again reversed after the First World War. I think it will take another armed struggle involving nations before a national consensus is reached whereby commonsense will replace PC and people will get ahead by ability not by quotas or preference for any ethnic group.
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
I'm not sure that our boredom is to blame as much as our self righteousness and ego. Lets just say that those students and parents are going far beyond what I would call boredom or laziness.
 
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