tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.comments2024-01-02T09:45:52.570-05:00Lost in Transcription Has Moved!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comBlogger350125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-44866866723751299772013-03-25T20:46:46.182-04:002013-03-25T20:46:46.182-04:00This is probably the most refreshing thing I have ...This is probably the most refreshing thing I have ever read -- ever. <br /><br />Independent academics have the liberty to study and write about the topics and issues they find important. Those who work regular jobs and do research in their spare time are the jewels of the academic kingdom (so to speak) because they are not just fulfilling a work requirement; they are fulfilling a life passion. Traditional academics have the luxury of having an audience that must listen -- In the real world, you have to compete for attention in the marketplace of ideas. The former seems irrelevant to preparing students for life. The latter seems today like it is restricted only by one's ability to construct great prose in 140 characters or less. <br /><br />In closing, I thought I'd share the first thing that came to mind when I read this: If you don't know the movie, then I challenge you to figure it out. <br /><br />"Jean-Pierre: The Forty-Seven Ronin. Do you know it?<br />[Sam shakes his head]<br /><br />Jean-Pierre: Forty-seven samurai, whose master was betrayed and killed by another lord. They became ronin - masterless samurai - disgraced by another man's treachery. For three years they plotted, pretending to be thieves, mercenaries, even madmen - that I didn't have time to do - and then one night they struck, slipping into the castle of their lord's betrayer and killing him.<br /><br />Sam: Nice. I like that. My kind of job.<br /><br />Jean-Pierre: There's something more. All forty-seven of them committed seppuku - ritual suicide - in the courtyard of the castle.<br /><br />Sam: Well, that I don't like so much.<br /><br />Jean-Pierre: But you understand it.<br /><br />Sam: What do you mean, I understand it?<br /><br />Jean-Pierre: The warrior code. The delight in the battle, you understand that, yes? But also something more. You understand there is something outside yourself that has to be served. And when that need is gone, when belief has died, what are you? A man without a master.<br /><br />Sam: Right now I'm a man without a paycheck.<br /><br />Jean-Pierre: The ronin could have hired themselves to new masters. They could have fought for themselves. But they chose honor. They chose myth.<br /><br />Sam: They chose wrong."<br /><br />Connexum Sumus Unum. E Veritate Potens.<br /><br />Regards,<br />M<br /><br />P.S. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.<br />-- Sun Tzu <br />Mhttp://www.diogenesticker.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-66868895263759999442013-03-05T00:04:09.579-05:002013-03-05T00:04:09.579-05:00Yeah, I was thinking about that, too, after postin...Yeah, I was thinking about that, too, after posting. Once you account for the fact that people use R, 2, 4, etc., it has to expand things. I'm not sure how big a direct quantitative effect it would have, since the number of abbreviated words is probably small, but it might relieve some of the grammatical and length constraints.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-82268048702618546402013-03-04T23:47:56.240-05:002013-03-04T23:47:56.240-05:00Actually, you know, it's worse than that, beca...Actually, you know, it's worse than that, because there are people tweeting like Chuck Grassley, who rarely types five unabbreviated words in succession (e.g., http://bit.ly/7RQHm).<br /><br />Oddly enough, I've been reading John Pierce's book "An introduction to information theory" at lunch most days recently, so this kind of thing has been on my mind.Ralph Haygoodhttp://ralphhaygood.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-35635601050348050352013-02-14T09:11:39.107-05:002013-02-14T09:11:39.107-05:00Yes, I think it is entirely possible that she is g...Yes, I think it is entirely possible that she is genuinely sorry, and that when she apologized, she went for a phrasing that she has probably seen and read many times. If that's the case, then I mean this as genuine advice.<br /><br />On the other hand, I think it is possible that she has not really sat down yet and thought about what she spent most of her life doing, and what it would mean to apologize for it. In that case, I would mean this as a nudge for her to dig a little bit deeper.<br /><br />(You know, under the hypothetical and unrealistic assumption that she would wind up reading this.)<br /><br />Either way, as I say, she deserves a hell of a lot of respect for the journey that she has already made, which is one that would probably be beyond the abilities of most people raised in that circumstance. And in a way, I am taking my disgust with pseudo-apologies in general out on her statement. But the the claim that it was never her intention to hurt people struck me as just crazy, even when compared with other pseudo-apologies.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-36810482527215454782013-02-14T02:46:50.557-05:002013-02-14T02:46:50.557-05:00It -is- strange wording, especially as she was spo...It -is- strange wording, especially as she was spouting pure liquid hate her whole life. But then, I don't believe that family does a lot of apologising, in private and certainly in public. I see your point, Jon, and pseudo-apologies irk me too, but she's new to this so I'm tempted give her the benefit of the doubt. For now, at least.<br /><br />What you say is solid advice, though. Sincerity is hard to fake, but insincerity is weirdly easy to accidentally fake. Life is fun like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-38824397559443080212013-02-13T20:36:07.048-05:002013-02-13T20:36:07.048-05:00I'm sympathetic, but the whole point is that t...I'm sympathetic, but the whole point is that the apology that she gave does not really convey to me that she IS sorry. I would like very much to believe that she is a nice young lady, but a mealy-mouthed pseudo-apology that is blatantly false -- and seems designed to deflect responsibility rather than accept it -- is not very convincing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-45850125948498579252013-02-13T19:55:52.490-05:002013-02-13T19:55:52.490-05:00Look man she was born into this. what do you expe...Look man she was born into this. what do you expect! she is sorry and we should treat her like the nice young lady that she is. so dont be so hard people! please.. words of @grampscramps on twitterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-60586429448003035852013-02-11T14:28:37.349-05:002013-02-11T14:28:37.349-05:00"[M]ost people who are complaining about the ..."[M]ost people who are complaining about the lack of a White History Month" would also be outraged at the notion that Arab-American Heritage Month has anything to do with them. Some of them wouldn't be too keen on Jewish-American Heritage Month either. And some of those Greeks and Italians are a bit on the swarthy side...<br /><br />Haters gonna hate.Ralph Haygoodhttp://ralphhaygood.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-16236946116611289242013-02-11T06:34:25.642-05:002013-02-11T06:34:25.642-05:00Thanks for the very enlightening analysis of the p...Thanks for the very enlightening analysis of the paper. I think any self-aware LGBT person would affirm that at no point in their lives (and for that matter, at no point in my own life as gay man) did they (nor did I) consciously choose their sexual orientation. The idea of non-linear interaction of genes is a very interesting one. I completely agree with your viewpoint that civil rights and morals should not be determined by biology. But I do think that the biological enquiry is important inasmuch as it can refute dated theories of homosexuality being a product of defunct post-natal psychosexual development.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-34363349893538989142013-02-08T12:05:27.567-05:002013-02-08T12:05:27.567-05:00Snark is like the internet's superpower. It...Snark is like the internet's superpower. It's nice when the internet uses it for good rather than evil.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-30760712821645389632013-02-08T11:44:58.249-05:002013-02-08T11:44:58.249-05:00On the one hand it's sad that such memes pop u...On the one hand it's sad that such memes pop up (like the brogrammers over the summer). On the other hand, it's nice to see snark alive, well, and used for good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-83400123618011118412013-01-31T17:11:18.590-05:002013-01-31T17:11:18.590-05:00Thanks! This is something I've been sort of c...Thanks! This is something I've been sort of coming around to over some time, as I have recovered from my initial delusion that I owed it to everyone just to let them have their say.<br /><br />Instinctually, I agree with you about pseudonymy. Obviously, I'm Jon Wilkins, or jonfwilkins, or whatever, pretty much everywhere I exist on the internet. On the other hand, I'm a straight, white male who grew up in an upper-middle-class household with two PhD parents and great schools, etc., etc. So, I've never really had the experience of feeling like I needed to hide anything about my identity. I suspect that, yes, most of the anonymous and pseudonymous types on the internet don't have a good reason for hiding their identities, and are motivated by the opportunity to be jerks without consequences. But I would have a hard time gauging which ones are legitimate, or exactly how many there would be, which makes me reluctant to put any sort of blanket policy in place.<br /><br />If this blog ever reaches the point where it is getting many, many comments, maybe I'll have to do something different, but at the moment, manual deletion of spam and trolling based on message content is within my bandwidth.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-83754092165039427042013-01-31T16:24:02.192-05:002013-01-31T16:24:02.192-05:00Great post, Jon!
Seriously - I agree completely.
...Great post, Jon!<br /><br />Seriously - I agree completely.<br /><br />Personally, I have a low tolerance for anonymous and pseudonymous commenting. Unless you're saying something that would expose you to serious danger (e.g., the kinds of danger that are the reasons for the federal witness protection program), it seems to me there's rarely any good reason not to state your name. And I've seen the quality of comment threads rise steeply on some sites that used to allow anonymous and pseudonymous comments but finally banned them to cut down on spam and trolling.Ralph Haygoodhttp://ralphhaygood.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-4531893288290367312013-01-31T16:08:26.751-05:002013-01-31T16:08:26.751-05:00My guess is that may be part of it. I would expect...My guess is that may be part of it. I would expect this response especially from someone who suffered, but then made it through, and expects to be rewarded for their suffering as well as to see other people suffer. (My committee was great, too, except for one guy. But, you know, there's almost always the one guy.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-62033896678612231172013-01-31T16:05:14.552-05:002013-01-31T16:05:14.552-05:00I have to wonder, though, how many of those negati...I have to wonder, though, how many of those negative comments are coming from people for whom grad school and academe wasn't a healthy environment. It's the old, "well I suffered, and so does everyone else" attitude. (Thankfully my chair and committee were pretty cool.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-80468290194710082702013-01-31T15:59:04.239-05:002013-01-31T15:59:04.239-05:00Also, I had meant to add, I'm glad that I don&...Also, I had meant to add, I'm glad that I don't work in a field where our primary commodity is executing chefs!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-32559896579983512952013-01-31T15:53:38.462-05:002013-01-31T15:53:38.462-05:00In the Chronicle comment thread, there were someth...<i>In the Chronicle comment thread, there were something like ten positive comments for every negative one, so it was actually quite nice reading through them.</i><br /><br />Well that's good, then. Guess it only takes one rotten apple, as it were.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-23229920310167745482013-01-31T15:52:08.124-05:002013-01-31T15:52:08.124-05:00As I said, most of the responses I've seen hav...As I said, most of the responses I've seen have been positive, but there is one big negative response that we're all going to have to be ready for. These three comments represent different aspect of it, but the basic message is this: <br /><br />"I'm someone who has succeeded following the standard path. Therefore, I believe that the standard mechanisms are flawless arbiters of quality."<br /><br />It is fundamentally about reification of the credentialing role of the University by people who benefit from that reification. It's annoying, probably inevitable, and something that needs to be tackled/diffused if we are going to transform the perception of independent scholarship.<br /><br />Jen, In the Chronicle comment thread, there were something like ten positive comments for every negative one, so it was actually quite nice reading through them.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-36864501650803328952013-01-31T15:45:04.078-05:002013-01-31T15:45:04.078-05:00The composer Jen from the Ronin Institute, here. ...The composer Jen from the Ronin Institute, here. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a subscription to the Chronicle.<br /><br />IMO, just because I don't have a tenure review board doesn't mean I'm not responsible to my fellows (even if they aren't in my field.) It also means that I've got to do more to communicate my work, since I'm not preaching to the choir, as it were. I kind of resent Shanna's implication that we're all a bunch of failed academics. (And the whole discussion of disappearing tenure jobs is something all academics should be very concerned about, but that's another discussion for another time.)<br /><br />I'm guessing Docbot doesn't live in Massachusetts. My insurance is taken care of, thank you very much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-75391513773607981032013-01-31T15:43:59.075-05:002013-01-31T15:43:59.075-05:00Attention Shanna123, Docbot, and wassall: And who,...Attention Shanna123, Docbot, and wassall: And who, exactly, are you? What have you contributed to human knowledge? How many times have your publications been cited? (If you're wondering about mine, Google Scholar me.) I'll consider taking your opinions seriously when you stop cowering behind pseudonyms and if your accomplishments merit it.Ralph Haygoodhttp://ralphhaygood.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-74681912751765863892013-01-31T15:36:19.526-05:002013-01-31T15:36:19.526-05:00"Keep in mind that many academics have forty ... "Keep in mind that many academics have forty hours a week of teaching and administration, and they basically do their research in their own spare time." True except for the '40 hours a week' part... If the independent scholar spends only 40 hours on tasks other than research, I'd say they have a substantial leg-up over the typical academic. Cirwinsmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09924883487399205931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-39039839182124186632013-01-08T16:59:24.673-05:002013-01-08T16:59:24.673-05:00I thought proper usage was that results that were ...I thought proper usage was that results that were far away were "data," while results that were nearby were "disa."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04284995441818864226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-41092006233968960662013-01-08T16:09:41.513-05:002013-01-08T16:09:41.513-05:00I cannot imagine Fisher making that elementary mis...I cannot imagine Fisher making that elementary mistake of Latin. The singular of data is dat.John S. Wilkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04417266986565803683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-41981447292215528072013-01-03T00:18:04.385-05:002013-01-03T00:18:04.385-05:00Thanks for this! Really helps put my graduate scho...Thanks for this! Really helps put my graduate school experience into a healthier perspective...for now. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180769075610486242.post-80426358332234964592013-01-02T13:23:57.854-05:002013-01-02T13:23:57.854-05:00I've been on Twitter since 2007, when hardly a...I've been on Twitter since 2007, when hardly anyone else I knew had even heard of it. I still don't like it. And the new stalker-i-ness isn't helping.Ralph Haygoodhttp://ralphhaygood.org/noreply@blogger.com