I fully agree with everything you say; you are a breath of fresh air in a culture that is indoctrinated by lies, lies, and more lies. As a conservative and a free thinker, you are a role model. You put my thoughts into words, and it is relieving to see someone as yourself willing to stand up against the decadent modern culture which is increasingly devolving into a police state.
The sad thing is, we live in a disgusting, sick society that is unnatural and totalitarian. We force schooling on our young people when they are literally children and are supposed to be moving around. Why do we do that? Why doesn't anyone stop and think that it is abnormal to force children to sit still at desks at 5, and then when they are teens, we continue schooling them rather than letting them move forward with their adult lives? Why is that we expect teens to be risk-averse, to never take any risks, and to just do what they are told? Why is that we expect teens to be willing to stay in school and continue living like children when BIOLOGY and SCIENCE declare that they are adults ready to soar and ready to reproduce?
I loved reading this, especially the advice at the end. I’ve been wanting to “come out” with my thoughts and beliefs, under my real name, for a while now. This just might have been the inspiration I needed to finally get myself cancelled and create a social media sharing my true thoughts. Your boldness is refreshing and inspiring. Thanks for that, and keep it up!
What a great idea to illustrate this point with that vivid Repin painting. I’m a fellow academic refugee, and I remember taking off the barge strap. I was nervous at first, but like you I found it led me to broaden my reading and thinking. Four years later I feel sorry for friends still stuck in the university. I think our university is like the 17th and 18th century university, which was abandoned or ignored by pretty much all the thinkers we still remember. The real intellectual life of our time is happening elsewhere.
You're right, that was an inspiring speech and a beautiful story. Having spent entirely too long in academic science myself (currently on my second postdoctoral fellowship), I can confirm that everything you say is absolutely true. There's a fairly high probability that I'll be taking leave of the academy imminently, with no clear idea of what comes next, so stories like your own are particularly meaningful to me.
Anyone interested in why academia turned into such a life-draining vampire nest might find this interesting:
In that piece, I try my best to show how the funding model led to the exploitation of graduate students, which led to overproduction of doctorate holders, which led to job competition becoming more intense, which led to the censorious attitude of moral dogmatism that ate academe's brains.
I work for a captured institution. If I use my real name I lose a very real job. If confronted I won’t back down but to expose myself puts my family at risk. Young people should take this into consideration and be willing to accept all negative consequences of fighting a rigged system.
I fully agree with everything you say; you are a breath of fresh air in a culture that is indoctrinated by lies, lies, and more lies. As a conservative and a free thinker, you are a role model. You put my thoughts into words, and it is relieving to see someone as yourself willing to stand up against the decadent modern culture which is increasingly devolving into a police state.
The sad thing is, we live in a disgusting, sick society that is unnatural and totalitarian. We force schooling on our young people when they are literally children and are supposed to be moving around. Why do we do that? Why doesn't anyone stop and think that it is abnormal to force children to sit still at desks at 5, and then when they are teens, we continue schooling them rather than letting them move forward with their adult lives? Why is that we expect teens to be risk-averse, to never take any risks, and to just do what they are told? Why is that we expect teens to be willing to stay in school and continue living like children when BIOLOGY and SCIENCE declare that they are adults ready to soar and ready to reproduce?
I loved reading this, especially the advice at the end. I’ve been wanting to “come out” with my thoughts and beliefs, under my real name, for a while now. This just might have been the inspiration I needed to finally get myself cancelled and create a social media sharing my true thoughts. Your boldness is refreshing and inspiring. Thanks for that, and keep it up!
I absolutely agree with everything you write, Megha. You express exactly my thoughts and feelings in words.
What a great idea to illustrate this point with that vivid Repin painting. I’m a fellow academic refugee, and I remember taking off the barge strap. I was nervous at first, but like you I found it led me to broaden my reading and thinking. Four years later I feel sorry for friends still stuck in the university. I think our university is like the 17th and 18th century university, which was abandoned or ignored by pretty much all the thinkers we still remember. The real intellectual life of our time is happening elsewhere.
You're right, that was an inspiring speech and a beautiful story. Having spent entirely too long in academic science myself (currently on my second postdoctoral fellowship), I can confirm that everything you say is absolutely true. There's a fairly high probability that I'll be taking leave of the academy imminently, with no clear idea of what comes next, so stories like your own are particularly meaningful to me.
Anyone interested in why academia turned into such a life-draining vampire nest might find this interesting:
https://barsoom.substack.com/p/the-dieing-academic-job-market
In that piece, I try my best to show how the funding model led to the exploitation of graduate students, which led to overproduction of doctorate holders, which led to job competition becoming more intense, which led to the censorious attitude of moral dogmatism that ate academe's brains.
You have guts. Bravo.
I work for a captured institution. If I use my real name I lose a very real job. If confronted I won’t back down but to expose myself puts my family at risk. Young people should take this into consideration and be willing to accept all negative consequences of fighting a rigged system.
Thank you for sharing this.
Drosophilaphobe.