On Mar 27, 2008, at 2:39 PM, Levi Pearson wrote: <snip>
My goodness. After repeated emails insulting *him* by implication simply because he decided to go to grad school, he replies in defense of his choice. Suddenly Hans is the rude one because you've read some elitist bias into his rant. Maybe you've got a preconceived notion that colors your perception here?
I don't agree with any emails that insulted him by implication. I wasn't really reading this thread all that closely until the last few emails (with the exception of Kimball's "Tech rhymes with Blech" email), and so I'm not aware of any specific thing to which Hans may or may not have been responding. I can also neither confirm nor deny that I wrote this email, or any other email to which anyone may have taken offense. :)
As for preconceived notions, I can honestly say there are no preconceived notions here regarding grad school. In fact, my best friend (who also happens to be my wife) got a MS degree in Exercise Science and Biomechanics. Just pointing out to a friend one possible interpretation of his words.
You could pretend that going to more school makes you an elitist. Maybe it does increase the tendency, but human beings in general have a pretty strong tendency towards being pompous and arrogant and looking down their noses at people who make different choices or belong to different cultures. Also, they tend to miss seeing those qualities in their own selves or groups while pointing them out in others!
I don't believe that I was doing any of those things, but if I did, like Hans I too apologize for not making myself clear. That is why I said later that phrasing it differently would help people who don't know Hans to have a clearer understanding of what he was saying. Hans is a very nice guy, and I don't find him arrogant or pompous or any such thing, but email is not the best medium for conveying ones words in a manner which fosters understanding rather than mis-communication (as this thread more than demonstrates).
Um, you seem to be reversing causality here. Hans said that grad school is for people who like to *really* think, not that grad school magically makes you capable of or inclined to *really* think.
I didn't say he said that, nor was I reversing causality, merely pointing out that there is no connection between grad school and *really" thinking except for the fact that Hans, who likes to *really* think, goes to grad school. I would even question whether "grad school" is for those who like to *really* think, because it is very dependent on your course of study. For example, a Masters in a performing arts discipline, while it requires thought, is more about artistic and technical competence in performing arts than it is about pondering the mysteries of the universe. It is more about hard work, talent, and dedication than it is about algorithms, business processes, or interpretations of the law.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's a pretty strong anti-intellectual bias in our society. If you like intellectual pursuits more than the norm, you get labeled a nerd and ostracized. Then, because you're ostracized, you get labeled a hoity-toity snob. This just reinforces the anti-intellectual bias, since clearly all the intellectuals are hoity-toity snobs who think too much of themselves to associate with.
There are a lot of biases in society, but I don't really care to have this thread go any farther off-course than it already is. I consider myself to be a fairly intellectual person (reciting the reasons I think so would probably make me sound like all those things I have said), and I try not to idolize those who are also seen to be (or really are) intellectual and I try not to degrade or look down on those who are (or are seen to be) a few fries short of a happy meal. Thus I neither side with the intellectuals who feel slighted, nor the intellectually-challenged who feel looked down upon. I personally was not offended by what Hans said, but recognized that what he said could be taken that way. It appears that Hans took the email in the spirit in which it was intended, which is the most important thing to me. I don't really know you Levi, but I am sorry my email caused you to jump all over me for what you perceived as me jumping all over Hans, but such is life. Flame wars on PLUG are a vicious circle, so let's break the circle here.
This is especially tragic coming from a member of a pretty 'nerdy' community, who until recently would have been seen as a hopeless nerd. Even among nerds, you can't be *too* intellectual and still be accepted, at least if you want to stand up for yourself instead of going along and agreeing that your career choices have no value.
I have always strived for balance in life, so I believe that most who know me would acknowledge my technical competence without slapping me with the label of 'nerd', and I am free to hold to that belief. :) As for standing up for yourself, see the first previous paragraph about my feelings about any insults (real or imagined, written or implied) in any previous emails.
:) Grant /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
