Enjoyed this characteristically pithily written blend of self-inquiry and broader philosophical reflection. Important read for anyone struggling to articulate how the media should be something other than it is.
I think these thoughts too about the ubiquity of tribalist thinking and am particularly concerned about top-down enforced viewpoint conformity by those who fancy themselves to be the producers of "truths." Do you know of Heterodox Academy? It had me from the tagline, "great minds don't always think alike." These people promote the viewpoint diversity that is so sorely lacking in academia and elsewhere. This morning I listened to a talk about so many forbidden but now more widely known truths, the "noble lies of Covid," and then read your relevant article here.
COVID and The Academy: What Have We Learned? Keynote Address by Vinay Prasad
Thanks, Marcy - I hadn't come across Heterodox Academy before. Seeing the involvement of Jonathan Haidt, I'm curious (and also keen to watch the film based on his The Coddling of the American Mind)... There unfortunately seem to be incentives in the polarised landscape for "heterodox" thinking to spawn its own dogmas, not least with an algorithm to feed in return for an income. But it's good to have more options to choose from at least!
You're welcome, and nice to hear your further thoughts. At some level it's an inescapable loop (except for siddhas, if such a thing is really possible in an embodied state or otherwise) of discovering and extricating oneself from the tribe's group think only to possibly become ensnarled in a heterodox group think that is as regressive as the original tribe. But there are also measureable instances of forbidden dialogue, frequently these days by people who proudly forbid it at universities that theoretically value freedom of speech. The coddling of the mind is rampant in academia. Not sure about the "in return for an income" part. The receding tenure system is great for reliable lifetime income stability, and surely better than the financial risk taken by speaking unfashionable viewpoints.
I'm participating in a symposium at Heterodox Academy's upcoming Conference in June. For anyone who's curious, heterodoxacademy.org.
Thanks, re: the symposium. I really value what's going on at HxA, which I think models what a university is supposed to be. It's an example of Academia 2.0 as many of the establishment schools are systemically viewpoint conformist, as intolerant, if not more so, as the far right nuts that they abhor. Ironic. And the academics control education of our youth, so I think they are more dangerous, if I had to pick a side, though I try to avoid binaries altogether.
I really enjoy Sam Harris and will listen to that episode.
I'll hope that the return on income happens to us both! First I should start a Substack and a podcast :-)
Enjoyed this characteristically pithily written blend of self-inquiry and broader philosophical reflection. Important read for anyone struggling to articulate how the media should be something other than it is.
🙏😍
I think these thoughts too about the ubiquity of tribalist thinking and am particularly concerned about top-down enforced viewpoint conformity by those who fancy themselves to be the producers of "truths." Do you know of Heterodox Academy? It had me from the tagline, "great minds don't always think alike." These people promote the viewpoint diversity that is so sorely lacking in academia and elsewhere. This morning I listened to a talk about so many forbidden but now more widely known truths, the "noble lies of Covid," and then read your relevant article here.
COVID and The Academy: What Have We Learned? Keynote Address by Vinay Prasad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MVwhFlViM
Thanks, Marcy - I hadn't come across Heterodox Academy before. Seeing the involvement of Jonathan Haidt, I'm curious (and also keen to watch the film based on his The Coddling of the American Mind)... There unfortunately seem to be incentives in the polarised landscape for "heterodox" thinking to spawn its own dogmas, not least with an algorithm to feed in return for an income. But it's good to have more options to choose from at least!
You're welcome, and nice to hear your further thoughts. At some level it's an inescapable loop (except for siddhas, if such a thing is really possible in an embodied state or otherwise) of discovering and extricating oneself from the tribe's group think only to possibly become ensnarled in a heterodox group think that is as regressive as the original tribe. But there are also measureable instances of forbidden dialogue, frequently these days by people who proudly forbid it at universities that theoretically value freedom of speech. The coddling of the mind is rampant in academia. Not sure about the "in return for an income" part. The receding tenure system is great for reliable lifetime income stability, and surely better than the financial risk taken by speaking unfashionable viewpoints.
I'm participating in a symposium at Heterodox Academy's upcoming Conference in June. For anyone who's curious, heterodoxacademy.org.
Totally agree about the scholarly coddling! I was thinking of the incentives for podcasters and writers on platforms such as Substack - this episode touched on that in passing in the free bit: https://aspecialplace.substack.com/p/sam-harris-gender-ideology-taylor-swift
Well done on the symposium - sounds like fun! 🙌
Thanks, re: the symposium. I really value what's going on at HxA, which I think models what a university is supposed to be. It's an example of Academia 2.0 as many of the establishment schools are systemically viewpoint conformist, as intolerant, if not more so, as the far right nuts that they abhor. Ironic. And the academics control education of our youth, so I think they are more dangerous, if I had to pick a side, though I try to avoid binaries altogether.
I really enjoy Sam Harris and will listen to that episode.
I'll hope that the return on income happens to us both! First I should start a Substack and a podcast :-)
Do it! I've been enjoying it... :)
PS. I just realized that it is not obvious who I am -- Marcy who taught Yoga History at Embodied Philosophy, where we met.
No worries! I'd guessed - I remember us once chatting on Facebook about Bari Weiss :)