Dealing With Those Who Are Smart and Disagree (copied from Twitter)
I have never been tested so hard in my life as I am now not responding in my academia groupchat explaining how all of their mockery of Trump’s claims are wrong because he is, in fact right on many things Between migrants eating cats, alive abortions (which are a thing), and
other lovely highlights, they were joking and laughing in the thread. These are colleagues who are nice, genuine, and actually complete their work in polling withOUT bias (I see the methodology) They are so insulated from reality that they cannot comprehend what is real
Now, we can blame them in some part, sure. But, that is how academia has been framed for years. And, for the most part, it was right. Academia used to stand for truth, knowledge, and consequences be damned!
However, it has come to pass that it went from stirring intelligent discussion to indoctrination. Luckily, my colleagues have not done this. I am proud to say that, and that is a thing my lovely boss should be really proud of.
But, it highlights the fact that many “smart people” don’t have an accurate picture of the world. Sometimes it is self-segregation (we only seek stuff that reinforces our beliefs) and sometimes it is a delusion of grandeur (think Glinda in Wicked).
Sometimes, these individuals cannot handle the truth (insert Jack Nicholson here) and the mere fact that a thing is proven wrong may cause a reaction that is opposite of what was intended – AKA the truth is collapsing on them, and they cannot handle it.
The most important thing is to plant that seed of doubt in their head. If there is something that is so obvious that it easily refuted, do that and do it without smugness. For example, here was something from the group chat (paraphrased):
“man, I thought transgender operations on migrants was the most wildest claim of the night, but here we are.” Reality? x.com/Geiger_Capital
From the video: CNN’s Erin Burnett literally in shock about what Kamala Harris supported. “Taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained illegal migrants? She actually said she supported that??”
The point isn’t that sequence. The point is that these people operate on a separate reality than normal Americans. They are divorced from much of the American reality (not all, as I can attest via my colleagues). The education they received primed them for this.
But keep all of this in mind when you see the “educated response” to tonight’s debate. Occam’s Razor. They really are that clueless for reasons that they can be blamed for and, mostly, are a circumstance of the broken education system they went through. 11/11 El Fin.
PS: I still think Academia needs to burn to the ground and be reborn into what it was intended to be It is broke; despite some shiny spots, the metal is dim and scuffed Melt it down and remake it Not all academia is bad, but all can benefit from a rebirth in purpose.
We can be a force for good. I know we can. I have seen it first hand. We need to get rid of the cancer. Wokeness. And we are making great strides in this effort.
But, we need to speak the same language in identifying the problem. If we do not, then it does not matter what we do. We may have different ways to address a problem, but if we do not agree on the problem set, we are spinning tires in the mud
If I didn’t think Academia was recoverable, I would not have spent 15+ years in it trying to ensure that the decision makers have ACCURATE data, not the data they want (been asked for that LMFAO) Last thought:
My mentor said “You can’t fix with analysis what you’ve bungles by design” That is accurate for so many fields and occupations. Don’t ever bend data to answer your question. Ask the question and let the chips – I mean data – fall where it is
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GUNS N GEAR
You’re absolutely right on one point: The people we are arguing with, fighting with, live in a totally different world than we do. It’s fascinating to a point, just pick any one of the issues we’re facing… Take the whole J6 situation: If you believe there was fraud in the election, those protestors were hero’s. If you do not think there was election fraud, those people were traitors. Don’t take sides in the debate, look at it agnostically: disrupting the selection of electors through protest, would be viewed by any sane person as attempting to interfere with the electoral process. If it was trump getting installed and antifa rioting, what would you say?
So we _should_ be able to at least agree at this point that your definition of what happened on that day is dependent on how you view the election:
If your news media and trusted sources convinced you the election was legit, you’d want to protestors jailed, wouldn’t you?
If your news media and trusted sources convinced you the election was fraudulent, you’d be protesting in the streets (toting your rifle), wouldn’t you?
So the entirety of the moment depends on your viewpoint of the election: was it fraudulent or wasn’t it.
The enemy is the media that warps and manipulates The Truth to fit their political agenda… The people are stupid, and easily manipulated. Frankly, you can’t blame them, like a minor child, they’re just not adult enough to handle the situation. Oh, they’ve been told/convinced/indoctrinated otherwise (and frankly I think that’s the crux of the issue)…. as you’ve seen in your academic cohorts. You believe they’re capable of rational thought and logical exercises… yet how many still subscribe to global warming and think the phizer-jab is a vaccine? How can intelligent educated people still be so stupid? How do otherwise 120+ IQ people NOT see the manipulation and lies in the propaganda that the media disseminates? Why do we see through it and they do not? Are we the one’s in a cult too blinded by ideology to see it? I don’t believe so, but the other side most certainly appears to be. Otherwise explain why Florida isn’t underwater yet (been hearing that one for 30 years now).
And if you bring that point up to them (rising sea levels), instantly they aren’t highly educated academics anymore. They stutter, dismiss, wave their hand, and repeat some un-related talking point from the tee vee… Like all the other stupid sheeple do. You see once it’s too hard to be smart, they revert to stupid. That’s how you know they aren’t smart. Smart people don’t think it’s hard to be that way, they just ‘are’. Frankly they revel when faced with an intellectual challenge, stupid people shrink from the effort. That’s your tell!
These people aren’t smart. They aren’t bright. They’re not even well educated, despite the tatters of paper they hang on their wall with pride… They don’t have critical reasoning skills (nobody who subscribes to global warming does, its just fact at this point as every model or theory has been busted like a sad joke). But they’ve been told that their entire lives and believe it. They’ve been told they really actually are special, and not just like everyone else. They’ve been told their efforts far exceed the norm, even when its substandard.. They’ve been encouraged to reach for the stars, and told that someone or something is holding them back (not their innate ability (or lack thereof), an outside force is to blame for their failures)… and there it is. It’s not your fault. Everything bad that happens is something or someone else’s fault. Blacks get to label everything racist, all women suffer under misogyny, even the CEO’s of multinational corporations claim they’re held back due to their vagina. Choose any issue… Nobody has personal responsibility anymore, anywhere, for anything. Because it’s easier to blame someone else than take responsibility for one’s own actions.
Abortion is the perfect allegory or fractal: the individuals involved could have prevented THAT situation a million different ways, but the baby is the one going to suffer for the choices of two adults. This is the world those allegedly bright, intelligent, critical academia people live in. They constructed a reality where the baby is responsible for being brough into being. Grok that… Blame and punish the baby for your poor choices, because it’s easier than admitting “I was a slut and got knocked up!” These are their best and brightest.
They still don’t see how stupid they are. Ask any one of them about abortion and see their response. At no point is the woman (or man) responsible for the half-dozen actions that led to impregnation, nor are they responsible for the dozens of passive ways they can prevent pregnancy (e.g. birth control). Nope, the baby suffers all the costs, they even want the medical insurance other people support to pay for the procedure.
Tell me again how intelligent, wise, and deserving of respect these people are? Please do, I’d love to see the mental gymnastics that it would require.
… No, really, that’s the problem in a nutshell, because you’re afraid of offending them. You support their delusions of grandeur on a daily basis by considering them your peer, when a simple logical exercise as above proves they have the mental capacity of child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Go ahead, ask their stance on abortion. Any distortion of reason and logic is acceptable so long as I don’t have to deal with emotional discomfort!! THAT IS A CHILD, NOT AN ADULT!!!!
Kudos and Laurels, Galaxy wide, both to the author of the op and, especially, to the commentator above. Absolutely brilliant and dead on accurate, Joe Blow! Very well done, Sir!