If Mort Divine ruled the world

[Dak]

What I find funny is that I actually have more exposure to academic situations than you, from what I can gather. This isn't to claim any kind of authority in the matter, but only to say I've interacted with more academics, at multiple institutions and conferences. I have indeed come across people who've said what you quoted, in the manner you quoted it.

But they are in the minority, and it is a small minority. Almost - almost - none of the academics I've had the good fortune to interact with characterize the notion of "social construct" in the way that you did.

I think you have the experience and education to arrive at your own conclusion regarding the concept of social construction, but I don't think you have the evidence to suggest that I'm "sheltered and wrong" on my expectations, if only for the reason that my expectations derive from what I presume is an experience that is broader than yours. The level of intellectual rigor with which you address the issue is common among humanities scholars, although it may surface less in undergraduate courses if only for the reason that it involves a lot of heavy theory that often doesn't make it into undergrad curricula (which is unfortunate, but not an indicator of an instructor's level of comprehension).

Ultimately, you can choose to believe that I'm lying or that I'm subject to a kind of intellectual blindness. Either is your prerogative.

You have been in a wider variety of academic institutions afaik, but also afaik you are surrounded by people who are more likely to think deeper on the subject. I've also been exclusively in schools with relatively high black populations, and it wouldn't surprise me that "racial blindness" becomes more appealing of an approach in such a situation, rather than more involved intellectual discussion.

As a high-IQ person, I can appreciate the fact that enjoying the marvels of modernity inevitably leads to commingling with those of different phyles. I don't think that's something to be avoided for its own sake.

Not because of differences qua differences no. But some things don't easily mingle, or mingle well. There are certain things which, psychologically, aid the coming together of very different types of people. A common goal pretty much being number one, and the creation or acceptance of a common culture. Not "diversity". Diversity as a common goal sounds like a neat way to square the circle, but then what's the point? Diversity for diversity's sake? You can experiment with this on small scales and see what havoc that plays. What if Deron eliminated all subforums and threads and just had one big thread + changed the website to "Ultimate Music"? Diversity on this site would go through the roof, if anyone would actually enjoy such an arrangement. Which the overwhelming majority of people wouldn't.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

 

[Dak]

"Young women today want to wield the power of female sexuality without then accepting any of the consequences of it." - Paglia

In a nutshell.

 

[Einherjar86]

You have been in a wider variety of academic institutions afaik, but also afaik you are surrounded by people who are more likely to think deeper on the subject. I've also been exclusively in schools with relatively high black populations, and it wouldn't surprise me that "racial blindness" becomes more appealing of an approach in such a situation, rather than more involved intellectual discussion.

Again, you seem to be focusing on classroom methodology, which does not always translate into a full reflection of the instructor's comprehension of the material.

Undergrad courses on women's literature may not delve into the intricacies of queer theory, but that doesn't mean the instructor doesn't understand said theory.

Not because of differences qua differences no. But some things don't easily mingle, or mingle well. There are certain things which, psychologically, aid the coming together of very different types of people. A common goal pretty much being number one, and the creation or acceptance of a common culture. Not "diversity". Diversity as a common goal sounds like a neat way to square the circle, but then what's the point? Diversity for diversity's sake? You can experiment with this on small scales and see what havoc that plays. What if Deron eliminated all subforums and threads and just had one big thread + changed the website to "Ultimate Music"? Diversity on this site would go through the roof, if anyone would actually enjoy such an arrangement. Which the overwhelming majority of people wouldn't.

Some things don't easily mingle because people are predisposed to think they don't easily mingle. Unfortunately.

 

[Dak]

Again, you seem to be focusing on classroom methodology, which does not always translate into a full reflection of the instructor's comprehension of the material.

I wouldn't call the comments I've heard "classroom methodology". It's essentially been offhand/adlibbed if you will.

Some things don't easily mingle because people are predisposed to think they don't easily mingle. Unfortunately.

I guess it's a matter of perspective as to the unfortunateness of such predispositions. We kind of see this with the various subsubsubgenres of metal. Some people don't think certain things "belong" in metal. Some like the variety. The better option is to just let both groups have their own preferences, not strap one or the other down and blast the "Superior option" in their ear.

 

[Internally Deformed]

strap one another down and blast the "Superior option" in their ear.

A personal fantasy of mine.

 

[Einherjar86]

Haha, I think it's a collective fantasy.

 

[SentinelSlain]

I don't think any prior point in time can be described as good if you subscribe to SJW values. Instead there is just endless progress towards a vague goal of equality and reparations. Also, nothing can be absurd and nothing is sacred.

 

[CiG]

 

[Dak]

 

[rms]

any articles about this? google is filled with right wing horseshit

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Glad I live in Indiana.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

My state is a red one on that map, but my school's mandatory health insurance actually went down a little for the first time this semester.

 

[Dak]

Mine went up AFAIK but the school covers it for grad students.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

I don't pay for my insurance. My employer covers medical, vision and dental and they aren't just cut-rate plans either. I wonder what I would be paying if things were different.

 

[SentinelSlain]

 

[Dak]

Yeah, cargo-cult more or less describes how most people view most modern conveniences, minority or otherwise.

 

[Einherjar86]

Been reading a lot about this lately:

So if Trump supporters are not necessarily the dislocated factory workers of media lore, what is driving them? Rothwell has two explanations, each of which gives both of the sides in the long-running debate over Trumpism some evidence to support their view.

First, he finds that “more subtle measures” of “longevity and intergenerational mobility” are key to understanding Trump. In other words, Trump voters aren’t living as long as they should be, and they seem to have serious concerns about whether their children will be as prosperous as their own generation is. “Make America Great Again” is not a bad slogan for the people in this situation.

But Rothwell also found a second factor that correlates highly with Trump support:

This analysis provides clear evidence that those who view Trump favorably are disproportionately living in racially and culturally isolated zip codes and commuting zones. Holding other factors constant, support for Trump is highly elevated in areas with few college graduates, far from the Mexican border, and in neighborhoods that stand out within the commuting zone for being white, segregated enclaves, with little exposure to blacks, Asians, and Hispanics.​

In other words, race is important. Rothwell, discussing what is known to social scientists as “contact theory,” essentially argues that living in overwhelmingly white enclaves increases one’s chances of being a racist, as “Limited interactions with racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and college graduates may contribute to prejudicial stereotypes, political and cultural misunderstandings, and a general fear of rejection and not belonging.”

If Rothwell is correct, his research complicates our understanding of why voters support the most extreme aspects of Trump’s nationalist policies. It means that simply improving economic conditions isn’t enough. The Trump voter, according to this research, is driven not by simple economic self-interest but by something deeper and more psychological. Rothwell’s view is much more in line with the argument that Trump voters are whites who feel that their privileged place in America is threatened by forces they don’t really understand. If this is true, they can’t simply be won over by getting median wages raised or by bringing the local factory back from Mexico.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-we-learned-about-trumps-supporters-this-week

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I'm curious what data they have supporting that "contact theory". The general use of the term seems to indicate it is used as a way of eliminating prejudice; lack of exposure doesn't necessarily cause it. The main study I'm aware of seems to suggest something closer to the opposite:

White people in the far northeast and western frontier have no negative preconceptions of minorities because they never interact with them, whereas whites in segregated communities still close to segregated black communities tend to be much more racist (obviously owing to hundreds of years of history).

EDIT: Whoops, wrong image; that's the one about regions of the USA according to their usage of the N-word (which still shows a similar pattern, but obviously isn't as methodical). I meant this study/map:

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2014...ism-score-high-in-some-states-and-not-others/

 

[CiG]

I was made to understand that a large chunk of Trump's support was from poor/working class, white redneck types.

If poor whites are a large chunk of Trump's support, I question how one's fear of losing white privilege could be a factor. Poor people very rarely feel privileged and thus have no fear of losing something that they didn't know they were supposed to have.

There's definitely from what I can tell a lack of understanding with regards to the job market (you can't bring jobs back without leveraging control over businesses, eg car industry) fused with nationalism that Trump is running on and it's kind of hilarious considering the republican party considers itself the party of economic intelligence.

His rantings on NAFTA for example are laughable.