One Kind of Diversity Colleges Avoid • Hacker News Board

Re: One Kind of Diversity Colleges Avoid

#41

Post by omonra » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:20 AM UTC

nickbauman wrote: post #11

panic wrote: post #9

To save you a click: the kind of diversity in question is "political or ideological diversity" with a focus on conservative politics and ideologies.

Conservative ideology is focused around defining progress (a term somewhat at odds with conservatism itself) as a return to a previous state of affairs (that may have never existed in the first place). That our civilizations apotheosis is somewhere in the past, not the future. This does not seem a compatible perspective with the idea of the university, which was handed down to us from the ideas of Socrates: to probe…

Can you cite a prominent contemporary conservative who says "We think that progress is going back to a previous state of affairs"?

Because it sounds like a caricature that makes it easy to say "Oh yeah, of course we can't have these crazy conservatives around young people".

Re: One Kind of Diversity Colleges Avoid

#42

Post by disc » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:29 AM UTC

exolymph wrote: post #33

oh_sigh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if the keys to academic success were that you needed to believe that blue is the best color. There is nothing intrinsic about blue being the best color, and a good argument could be made that green is the best color. But, everyone who holds the keys to the kingdom of academic success think that blue is the best color, and won't let anyone in who thinks green is the best color. Do you think that system is "fai…

This is a false equivalency because no intelligent adult believes that any color is inherently superior, whereas many intelligent adults do believe that certain political beliefs are inherently superior.

And your refute is an appeal to the masses or an appeal to authority depending on your tastes. Many intelligent people believe in conservative/libertarian ideals.

When considering solutions to tough problems, why exclude any class of thought?

Re: One Kind of Diversity Colleges Avoid

#43

Post by jccalhoun » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 12:32 PM UTC

PhantomGremlin wrote: post #34

jccalhoun wrote: post #29

Once I opened the link, I found that the kind of diversity he was talking about was political (although I couldn't read it since it was behind a paywall). As an academic, my first thought was, "bullshit. There are tons of conservatives in business schools." Imagine my surprise when the author is a professor in a business school: http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/Newindex.html Imagine my further shock when I fi…

As an academic, my first thought was, "bullshit. There are tons of conservatives in business schools." Huh? That's it? The only place for conservatives at a University is in its business school? That clearly illustrates the point the article was making!

I don't think I wrote that the only place conservatives are found is in business schools.

My point was that arguing that there is a lack of diversity in political thought is just plain wrong.

The author does not want diversity at all. He is a conservative is wants more conservatives.

Re: One Kind of Diversity Colleges Avoid

#44

Post by nickbauman » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 4:56 PM UTC

omonra wrote: post #41

nickbauman wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conservative ideology is focused around defining progress (a term somewhat at odds with conservatism itself) as a return to a previous state of affairs (that may have never existed in the first place). That our civilizations apotheosis is somewhere in the past, not the future. This does not seem a compatible perspective with the idea of the university, which was handed down to us from the ideas of Socrates: to probe…

Can you cite a prominent contemporary conservative who says "We think that progress is going back to a previous state of affairs"? Because it sounds like a caricature that makes it easy to say "Oh yeah, of course we can't have these crazy conservatives around young people".

I think it's right there on the tin.

http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_conservatism.html

"Conservatism is any political philosophy that favours tradition (in the sense of various religious, cultural, or nationally-defined beliefs and customs) in the face of external forces for change..."