I love this! Thanks for sharing it, Dorian. And congratulations to the students who wrote, moved, and voted on the resolution. If I may, I'd like to borrow from it and move a similar resolution at the Washington Education Association's annual convention this spring. Any bets on how far it would get in this bluest of blue states and at a public educators' union meeting?
My impression is that these things are sort of oscillatory. And when things get too irrational in one direction or another, eventually there is a correction.
If people try to restrain the corrective response, it can be delayed, but it will eventually emerge.
At first these movements do not seem problematic, particularly. For example, in this last iteration, they cloaked themselves in the notions of fairness and justice, which most people agree with. But as they evolve, darker strains seem to become dominant. And just like a frog slowly boiling to death in a pot of water whose temperature is being raised incrementally, we start to get cooked.
At this point, the system is unstable. And small perturbations can disrupt the process. I think we are starting to see some push-back against some truly awful policies.
Will the response overshoot the optimal "setpoint" or equilibrium? It is difficult to say. This often happens. It might occur this time, or it might not.
These would be perfect things for sociologists to investigate. But they are more interested in ephemera and nonsense.
I love this! Thanks for sharing it, Dorian. And congratulations to the students who wrote, moved, and voted on the resolution. If I may, I'd like to borrow from it and move a similar resolution at the Washington Education Association's annual convention this spring. Any bets on how far it would get in this bluest of blue states and at a public educators' union meeting?
This gives me hope...
My impression is that these things are sort of oscillatory. And when things get too irrational in one direction or another, eventually there is a correction.
If people try to restrain the corrective response, it can be delayed, but it will eventually emerge.
At first these movements do not seem problematic, particularly. For example, in this last iteration, they cloaked themselves in the notions of fairness and justice, which most people agree with. But as they evolve, darker strains seem to become dominant. And just like a frog slowly boiling to death in a pot of water whose temperature is being raised incrementally, we start to get cooked.
At this point, the system is unstable. And small perturbations can disrupt the process. I think we are starting to see some push-back against some truly awful policies.
Will the response overshoot the optimal "setpoint" or equilibrium? It is difficult to say. This often happens. It might occur this time, or it might not.
These would be perfect things for sociologists to investigate. But they are more interested in ephemera and nonsense.
Thanks Dorian, I will send this to our student leaders at Cornell.
Thanks,
randy
I am no longer certain that in academia, antisemites and islamist terrorist supporters are a minority. Unless the majority is very, very quiet.
The majority of students are very very quiet. The majority of faculty are even quieter.
Amen!