Elsewhere (283)
John Staddon on Ethnic Studies standards:
The anonymous sociologist’s claim that empirical facts are irrelevant… raises an important question: if theories in the social sciences are not constrained by empirical facts, what are they constrained by? The answer seems to be that theories in Race and Ethnic Studies sociology are mainly constrained by the political opinions prevailing in that branch of the field… [‘Race theorist’] Eduardo Bonilla-Silva scorns the very idea [of truth], speaking of the “devil of ‘objectivity’” (note the scare quotes). Without the possibility of objectivity, there is no science. Has sociology become, then, just political activism? To some extent, yes. According to Tukufu Zuberi and Bonilla-Silva: “The aim is to attain epistemic liberation from White logic.”
Professor Bonilla-Silva and his nasty, paranoid contortions have been mentioned here before. When not denouncing objectivity and “white logic” – or complaining that his employer, Duke University, “oozes whiteness,” which is, it goes without saying, a terrible thing to ooze – the professor equates critics of affirmative action with 19th century supporters of slavery. He also claims that non-racial ‘colour-blind’ attitudes and policies are merely a “way of calling minorities niggers, Spics or Chinks.”
One of the more bizarre indicators of Bonilla-Silva’s mental state is his written insistence – published in a course syllabus – that students must control their “body language” and avoid any “irresponsible contestation” of his arguments. Black students who disagreed with the professor’s lurid racialist theories have been denounced by him as “Uncle Toms.” Oh, and Professor Bonilla-Silva, a grown man, a tenured academic with a six-figure salary, refers to the United States, in class, as “Gringoland” and “AmeriKKKa.”
Further to this recent hoaxing drama, James Lindsay on laundering hokum:
‘Critical race theory’ is a mess, for example. It’s an explicitly political situation, in which ‘whiteness’ has to be bad and therefore can’t do anything right, and they take these ideas and launder them through the academic process. And these departments exist specifically to launder these ideas, to put them through the academic process and give them the appearance of being rigorous studies, so then activists can go and say, “Oh, a study has shown…”
For more on so-called “critical race theory,” see also this.
At Colorado State University, where “inclusive excellence” is a goal stated many, many times, matters of great import are being decided:
The school’s guidelines urge those who are posting about the university: “Avoid gendered emojis when possible. Instead use one of the variations of the yellow smiley faces or object emojis.” The guide also suggests that individuals “use inclusive pronouns” such as “they/them/theirs.”
For further illustrations of “inclusive excellence,” and the delightful, not-at-all-unhinged people it attracts, see also this.
And while I find the term “intellectual dark web” faintly silly, David Fuller’s interview with Douglas Murray is not without its moments:
It is preposterous that almost everything that is true is so hard to say in public, and so controversial to say in public. And so disputed, and so howled against. I think everybody who’s been described as a member of the ‘intellectual dark web’ probably has one thing in common, which is that they’re all used to being howled at for saying things that are self-evident – howled at in public – only to then discover that the public come up to them in private and say, “Thank you so much for saying what we think.” […]
Somebody came up to me after the event in London [with Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson] and they had a copy of that day’s New York Times, and page one, two and three, I think, were about something to do with trans [issues]. And this person said, “This is why people are here.” I said, I’m not sure they’re here because of the New York Times running so much about trans, and we didn’t address anything to do with that, but I got what he meant. We’re being given really weird, quite fringe stuff, all the time, as our diet, and we’re starting to rebel.
As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
Brandon Morse on a gamers’ term for Mao-ling behaviour:
A phenomenon we’ve witnessed more than once.
Yet another example of a non-white person choosing to reap the benefits of living in a majority white country and getting paid, by those same white peoples taxes, to demonise and dehumanise white people.
See also ‘Professor’ Kehinde Andrews.
It’s almost as if our Establishments hate us.
Deportations commence when?
One of the more bizarre indicators of Bonilla-Silva’s mental state is his written insistence – published in a course syllabus – that students must control their “body language” and avoid any “irresponsible contestation” of his arguments.
*backs away slowly*
[‘Race theorist’] Eduardo Bonilla-Silva scorns the very idea [of truth], speaking of the “devil of ‘objectivity’” (note the scare quotes).
Translation: he *really* hates losing the argument.
Translation: he *really* hates losing the argument.
That would be a more likely explanation, yes.
The correct reaction to insane leftists:
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1050794829482008576
Status: Owned.
I suggest for the SJW’s in our midst, two powerful symbols of critical mob-think:
– for their identity symbol and badge of office, a little red book to wave at their rallies and protests; and
– To feed them, the bountiful harvests of Lysenkoism.
The benefits for us? the first will help us determine which rallies (courses/professors/media) to avoid, and the second will solve the whole SJW problem – slowly.
All this is nothing new, alas. Many moons ago six of us from similar organizations were sent to a course originally founded in genuine sciency principles, but which has become overrun with moonbats. As part of this course there was a mandatory sub-course wherein a problem in Africa was brought up, and the moonbat “solution” discussed. By “discussed” I mean put forth as the only solution. My comrades and I, all being about 15 years older on average and having real jobs which in a couple of cases included actually having encountered said problem while in Africa, were shouted down for proposing an alternate solution.
In the back of the class was a gentleman who had the temerity to say we were right. The fact that he was Deputy Minister of Department Related to the Problem in the African country he came from did not stop his being shouted down by the 99.4 % pasty white other students who had never set foot off of a campus.
Almost the entire canon of leftist thought can be summed up by the quote from Patton, “If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking”. I am sure it has been said before, but not thinking is easy, spit back the rote drivel and you get the garbage above and maybe a six figure sinecure, or a seven figure contract as a “comedian”, etc. etc.
In the back of the class was a gentleman who had the temerity to say we were right. The fact that he was Deputy Minister of Department Related to the Problem in the African country he came from did not stop his being shouted down by the 99.4% pasty white other students who had never set foot off of a campus.
Despite the blather about “critical thinking,” autonomous mental activity is in fact actively discouraged, as we’ve seen many times, including the last item here. The whole thing is premised on begged questions and predestined conclusions of an intensely ideological nature, and as a result, evasion and dishonesty are hard to avoid.
If someone retreats into conspiracy theories and rejects any unflattering attempt at objectivity – the obvious means by which one determines the validity of an argument – along with rejecting mountains of statistics and evidence, then this doesn’t exactly signal good faith on their part. Or indeed competence. Likewise, Professor Bonilla-Silva’s various, rather infantile, rhetorical contortions, most of which boil down to, “You should lose because you’re white and therefore wrong by default.”
And this is a man who, for a very generous salary, teaches the credulous and impressionable, and who has considerable say in who else may, or may not, be employed.
Re: NPCs – it would be interesting to know how much overlap there is between reading lists in grievance studies at American universities. The beliefs of their graduates do seem to be uniform; I wonder if in practice we’re talking about roughly a dozen activist academics who’ve managed to get their views spoon-fed into unquestioning minds.
I’m sorry but I’m new here. Where’s the mop? I’ve oozed whiteness everywhere.
Share a snippet, he says – OK, here is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a WTF.
We’ll gloss over the “man” who thinks she is a dog is a woman who, per the photos, still has all her lady bits.
I wonder what would happen if Andrew told “Tony”, “Shut up bitch, and make me a sammich”. It is all very confusing.
If anyone has trouble with comments not appearing, email me and I’ll plunge a hand into the spam filter.
Oh, and Professor Bonilla-Silva,
a grown man, an arrested adolescent, a tenured academic with a six-figure salary, refers to the United States, in class, as “Gringoland” and “AmeriKKKa.”FTFY.
an arrested adolescent,
Well, yes. Quite. And it does seem to be a common feature, this kind of moral neoteny.
The word “critical” in “critical theory” does not have the meaning of the word in “critical thinking”. Critical theory simply means criticizing, tearing down, abusing, demeaning, and defaming any ideas that are not approved by this crypto-Marxist worldview. Those views are mainly the opposite of modern Western ideas of humanity, science, knowledge, and generally civilization. Critical theorists simply want to tear down society and destroy whatever holds it together. They do not have any cares about rebuilding or reconstituting it under some new ideals. They are purely destroyers. That is all they want. Any claims they make about building a ‘better world’ are just bafflegab for the rubes. There are a lot of rubes – many of them college students.
“HEY HEY HO HO insert thing HAS GOT TO GO,”
Is this a quote from Professor Christine Fair PhD?
heh heh
“…remains innocent despite the sexual overtones…”
Dr. Freud, call your office.
Ethnic “studies” have simply become faiths, newly invented pseudo-religions seized upon by intellectual mediocrities to act as cover for an academic sinecures. If anything, openly admitting to it by declaring facts as irrelevant is a form of progress insofar as no one need further pretend that this academic emperor is wearing any clothes.
Critical theory simply means criticizing, tearing down, abusing, demeaning, and defaming any ideas that are not approved by this crypto-Marxist worldview.
See Bill Whittle’s video on the origins of cultural marxism.
The modern way to be anti-racist is to be really, really racist.
Critical theory is a form of Marxism. That it is being taught in universities — not studied as you would a frog in biology, but advocated and used to analyze society — with public funds is a scandal.
Although many of the educated elite will despise it, the public has a right to ensure that their tax dollars are well spent. The public has to start holding universities accountable for their decisions.
We’re being given really weird, quite fringe stuff, all the time, as our diet, and we’re starting to rebel.
“Related”…
https://twitter.com/SamWhiteTky/status/1051002544632131584
“Related”…
Once in a while, and cynical as I am, it’s still possible to be taken aback by the inevitable, almost instinctive condescension of these clowns. Their utter failure of self-awareness. As if issuing “I really am okay with you being gay, honest” badges, and then congratulating themselves for this alleged sensitivity, somehow didn’t patronise everyone involved.
“The aim is to attain epistemic liberation from White logic.”
Or, as everyone else calls it, “reality”.
“calling minorities niggers, Spics or Chinks.”
He didn’t capitalize the first one. Racist!
“Status: Owned.”
Can someone please give a dose of whatever the GOP’s taking to the British Tories?
“The word “critical” in “critical theory” does not have the meaning of the word in “critical thinking”.”
Yes, but I would posit that the ambiguity is deliberate. They’re hijacking the word “critical” in the same way they did “liberal”. Orwell was right: you can’t argue for something if you don’t have the words. If “liberal” means “socialist”, how can you be a liberal? It has to be called something else: “conservative”, “far-right”, “Nazi”, whatever bogey-word the “liberals” can think of. Same here: if “critical” means “uncritical”, then real critical thinking becomes “violence”, “white logic”, “denial”…
Has anyone noticed that ‘Tony’ puts an awful lot more effort into looking like a dog than she does into looking like a man? She isn’t even wearing her hair short or anything. I suspect this is just a move to get Progressive Points, since the far left has argued that literally the only thing that matters is what you identify as, and questioning someones actual behavior or mental state is oppressive, thus it opens up the ‘trans’ label for anyone who wishes to use it. I suspect this ability to adopt a high-ranking oppressed label without having to actually do anything for it is part of what will cause the whole progressive stack to collapse.
I’m sorry but I’m new here. Where’s the mop? I’ve oozed whiteness everywhere.
I think it’s over there, by the taps. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in…
Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in…
[ Turns on big-screen TV as a diversion, cranks volume. ]
Ooh, a sporting event of some kind.
an arrested adolescent,
That Professor Bonilla-Silva has been employed and repeatedly promoted at a prestigious institution, with a handsome salary – despite his obvious shortcomings and obnoxious racial views – does seem somewhat at odds with his own fantasies of oppression.
See also his Duke colleague Wahneema Lubiano, another ludicrous creature who invokes personal victimhood and regards the classroom as a vehicle for her own, quite demented “activism.” Professor Lubiano also rails against “Western rationality,” and boasts that universities are “engines of dominance” that should be “sabotaged” by people suitably radical and enlightened. People like her, in fact. (A transformation, incidentally, that one might think had already taken place.)
So I sidled over to the “related” post “Think Good Thoughts” to refresh my memory (the UWM microagression instructions). And I noticed something I hadn’t before: Warren Scherer’s preferred pronoun “per” has no case structure. It’s per, per, per all the way down.
(Slips on some oozed whiteness, curses softly so the bouncer won’t hear.)
Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in…
[ Turns on big-screen TV as a diversion, cranks volume. ]
Ooh, a sporting event of some kind.
With apologies to our gracious host but junior badminton doesn’t really qualify as a sporting event.
Ooh, a sporting event of some kind. >
I hear they could go all the way this year.
Uh-oh.
“oozed whiteness everywhere”
Henchlesbian with mop to aisle 5, please.
David, I really am OK with you being gay, but I will NEVER accept the low quality of the pickled “eggs” in this establishment. I just can’t even.
Now that I think about it, if someone isn’t OK with you being gay, what exactly are you supposed to do about it?
Also, up above, who’s Tony, who apparently looks like a dog? 🐶. I missed something somewhere.
This is Tony.
Anyway, this well loved popular sports game has me enthralled. I’m starting to sweat along with the players. Whatcha got on tap for me, barkeep?
I have one question: does Tony poop in the bathroom, or the yard?
Tony is in LA so I would presume on the city sidewalks. Better question is does Andrew pick up after Tony?
Anyway, this well loved popular sports game has me enthralled. I’m starting to sweat along with the players. Whatcha got on tap for me, barkeep?
It’s Houston vs Madrid. The winner will be playing against Tokyo in the semifinals.
I thought it was Sacramento where people pavement-pooping problematically prevails. Or is it now all of CA’s big cities?
Uh-oh.
Nice save.
The modern way to be anti-racist is to be really, really racist.
You don’t say.
Or is it now all of CA’s big cities?
San Francisco, the US answer to the slums of Nairobi, and there is an app for that.
LA, telling San Francisco to hold its free range, cruelty free, organic, gluten free soy kombucha, and the US answer to the slums of Bombay, has the typhus outbreak.
The guide also suggests that individuals “use inclusive pronouns” such as “they/them/theirs.”
That doesn’t make me feel included.
That doesn’t make me feel included.
Well, quite:
The objections above are hardly esoteric, and yet the Harvard-educated Ms Kovvali and the woke-lings at Colorado State act as if they had never encountered them, even in passing.
Oh dear.
Via Julia.
The best response to these people is to educate your children prior to sending them to university. And buy more ammo.
Ms. Kovali no habla espanol y es una idiota.
Well, it IS Halloween season… 🎃
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article219809315.html
There’s a cat-lady sort of college not too far from here, but if they’re hexing Trump they haven’t informed any reporters yet.
Tony said: ‘To me a dog is everything pure in the world. Dogs experience the world through a lens of pure joy that I don’t think other animals have’
Why does Tony hate other types of animals? Why is he/she/per/they so angry? I fear that Tony might be literally Hitler!