Wednesday, November 01, 2006
end (er's?) game
I recently discovered this article, written by a famous science fiction author.
If you think postmodernism doesn't exist, you're absolutely wrong. This article is an epic of postmodernism.
If you write science fiction but haven't studied "science fact", are you entitled to criticize science?
I agree with Card that a lot of disciplines in the humanities are in trouble. Severe trouble. He asserts that some professors in these departments "...could sound really smart without ever having to check their ideas against the real world." I don't think that the various "studies" departments are worthless, though; the developers of "women's studies", "gender studies", and various race studies were trying to prevent discrimination. He says that a lot of professors in those departments go too far by trying to indoctrinate people. I personally haven't been indoctrinated (or had the chance to be indoctrinated), so I can't comment on that.
However, his discussion of "groupthink" in physics sounds all too familiar. Groupthink is an overused, excessively hyped term. Unlike what a lot of people would have you believe, string theory is not taking over every physics department. RPI has one of the largest departments in the country, but no one here works on string theory. No professor in the department went to the Mensa colloquium, which was only a few miles away. I think it's very obvious that Card's statements are exaggerated, just based on what I see here.
Hey, even the blogger at Angry Physics thinks that the "string wars" are settling down, so hopefully all the negative "attack articles" will cease. ¶ 5:00 PM
If you think postmodernism doesn't exist, you're absolutely wrong. This article is an epic of postmodernism.
If you write science fiction but haven't studied "science fact", are you entitled to criticize science?
I agree with Card that a lot of disciplines in the humanities are in trouble. Severe trouble. He asserts that some professors in these departments "...could sound really smart without ever having to check their ideas against the real world." I don't think that the various "studies" departments are worthless, though; the developers of "women's studies", "gender studies", and various race studies were trying to prevent discrimination. He says that a lot of professors in those departments go too far by trying to indoctrinate people. I personally haven't been indoctrinated (or had the chance to be indoctrinated), so I can't comment on that.
However, his discussion of "groupthink" in physics sounds all too familiar. Groupthink is an overused, excessively hyped term. Unlike what a lot of people would have you believe, string theory is not taking over every physics department. RPI has one of the largest departments in the country, but no one here works on string theory. No professor in the department went to the Mensa colloquium, which was only a few miles away. I think it's very obvious that Card's statements are exaggerated, just based on what I see here.
Hey, even the blogger at Angry Physics thinks that the "string wars" are settling down, so hopefully all the negative "attack articles" will cease. ¶ 5:00 PM
