At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
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Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#2When a postal worker goes postal, it's going postal.
When a PhD from Harvard -- the first detail mentioned, note -- goes postal, they are suffering in an academic pressure cooker.
Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation to hand to explain the inexplicable only makes it more difficult to show respect for the victims and sympathy for the grieving.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#3Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#4When a postal worker goes postal, it's going postal. When a PhD from Harvard -- the first detail mentioned, note -- goes postal, they are suffering in an academic pressure cooker. Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation to hand to explain the inexplicable only makes it more difficult to show respect for the victims and sympathy for the grieving.
"Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation..."
If describing this tragedy as "someone going postal" isn't dumbly applying pop-psych, then I don't know what is.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#5When a postal worker goes postal, it's going postal. When a PhD from Harvard -- the first detail mentioned, note -- goes postal, they are suffering in an academic pressure cooker. Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation to hand to explain the inexplicable only makes it more difficult to show respect for the victims and sympathy for the grieving.
"Going postal" is hardly a tactful way of describing that situation. I don't think it's pop psychology to acknowledge that a small percentage of people in extremely stressful situations lose control, and end up doing awful things. It's impossible to have sincere sympathy and respect without a healthy dose of empathy. And to have empathy, you have to be able to acknowledge truths about situations that may not be politically correct.
We don't know if this woman lost control because of mental illness, or stress in her personal life, or simply because her superiors were assholes. But if it's the latter, I'd rather hear a discussion about the ugly realities of academic life, than another cliché conversation demanding "respect and sympathy" from total strangers.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#6When a postal worker goes postal, it's going postal. When a PhD from Harvard -- the first detail mentioned, note -- goes postal, they are suffering in an academic pressure cooker. Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation to hand to explain the inexplicable only makes it more difficult to show respect for the victims and sympathy for the grieving.
I don't think the author was applying an explanation either dumbly or trying to reduce its significance. I think it is part of our human nature to try and contain a tragedy by labeling or attributing some cause to it. I'm not a therapist, but I sincerely believe this human trait persists in many people as a coping mechanism. That's why it makes sense (even as an academic myself) in some weird, comforting way.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#7What Dr. Bishop did was unjustified, no matter what other facts we may find (excepting force initiated by the victims); justice requires her death. (Because this penalty is irrevocable, and all possible legal systems are fallible, the closest we can get to this ideal is life imprisonment.)
Having said that, look at how the system worked. These guys were stringing her along for six years (or so?), while maintaining the illusion that her activities (against university initiatives and attitudes) would have no impact on her career. Obviously her against-the-grain attitudes had a great deal to do with the way they treated her.
What's the best way to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring? The only way is to take the pressure off by eliminating tenure completely. That way, there's no insane buildup of emotion on either side. In a properly functioning organization, people that don't work out (for whatever reason, including personality conflicts) should be informed of the situation as early as is possible, which takes what, about a year?
Existing faculty could be offered buyouts (which, of course, would have to be lucrative enough to be accepted), and you're at a nice clean slate.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#8When a postal worker goes postal, it's going postal. When a PhD from Harvard -- the first detail mentioned, note -- goes postal, they are suffering in an academic pressure cooker. Dumbly applying the nearest pop-psych explanation to hand to explain the inexplicable only makes it more difficult to show respect for the victims and sympathy for the grieving.
I don't think the author was applying an explanation either dumbly or trying to reduce its significance. I think it is part of our human nature to try and contain a tragedy by labeling or attributing some cause to it. I'm not a therapist, but I sincerely believe this human trait persists in many people as a coping mechanism. That's why it makes sense (even as an academic myself) in some weird, comforting way.
Exactly - for columbine, it was the video games and music, which is much more of a non-sequitur than working in the high pressure environments of academia and biotech startups. This did read like more of a human interest story though.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#9I find it veeery interesting that she "accidentally" killed her brother when she was twenty. Casts some doubt on that situation too.
Re: At an Academic Pressure Cooker, a Setback Turns Deadly
#10I find it veeery interesting that she "accidentally" killed her brother when she was twenty. Casts some doubt on that situation too.
Wrong conclusion. I think that she must have been emotionally scarred by the accident.
Did the accident make it easier for her to kill those faculty members yesterday? That's really hard to say. Would it be easier for the former first lady to murder someone because of the deadly car accident she was involved in? I'm inclined to say no.