Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
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Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
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Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#2Social groups, whether in academia, industry, civil society, or anywhere else are never as able to maintain the level of objectivity they think they possess. Group think isn't (just) a structural failure but a intractable bias all human communities face simply because they are made up of humans.
I think there is an implicit belief in the scientific and technology communities that rational investigation can be free from bias. But social bias is simply part of the reality of being human and ignoring that bias becomes much more dangerous and damaging than acknowledging and mitigating it.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#3Social groups, whether in academia, industry, civil society, or anywhere else are never as able to maintain the level of objectivity they think they possess. Group think isn't (just) a structural failure but a intractable bias all human communities face simply because they are made up of humans. I think there is an implicit belief in the scientific and technology communities that rational investigation can be free fr…
Precisely this.
Research and science will at their heart always be a fundamentally human endeavor and we ignore that at our peril.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#4Rejection is probably one of the strongest feelings for a normal person.
For me two thoughts help keep my spirits up:
- I was the same person before the rejection as I am after it. There is nothing changing in reality - only my own view, my own feelings. This is all mostly self-inflicted.
- "If you don't feel rejected every day, it means you're not trying hard enough."
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#5Ultimately it's an ~education thing (for the lack of a better word). You and others want to be in a place where people aren't hiding their thoughts that much. Ability to express subjective criticism in a mellow manner is very important. And the ability to accept being wrong. Basically being tuned to others POV to improve everybody's view or understanding without undermining their well being too.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#6Social groups, whether in academia, industry, civil society, or anywhere else are never as able to maintain the level of objectivity they think they possess. Group think isn't (just) a structural failure but a intractable bias all human communities face simply because they are made up of humans. I think there is an implicit belief in the scientific and technology communities that rational investigation can be free fr…
But academia is better because your paper has your name on it and when the bias somehow resolves itself then people would know you were right, even though you might be dead by the time it happens.
People in academia are still humans and as you said they have biases but they also try to play the biases to elevate themselves.
However the cumulative look at a paper during the course of decades and centuries are bound to sniff BS and unmask it
This is different than say trading in financial markets where biases are always there and the issue never resolves itself, just companies and CEOs come and go.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#7Ultimately it's an ~education thing (for the lack of a better word). You and others want to be in a place where people aren't hiding their thoughts that much. Ability to express subjective criticism in a mellow manner is very important. And the ability to accept being wrong. Basically being tuned to others POV to improve everybody's view or understanding without undermining their well being too.
It is not clear to me whether you are suggesting the issue is merely one of how to give and receive justified criticism. I see the greater issue as one of the use of marginal, overblown or simply unjustified criticism and innuendo to isolate people and undermine reputations. We all know it happens.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#8Rejection is probably one of the strongest feelings for a normal person. For me two thoughts help keep my spirits up: - I was the same person before the rejection as I am after it. There is nothing changing in reality - only my own view, my own feelings. This is all mostly self-inflicted. - "If you don't feel rejected every day, it means you're not trying hard enough."
> I was the same person before the rejection as I am after it. There is nothing changing in reality - only my own view, my own feelings. This is all mostly self-inflicted.
The reality being that members of my own species choose not to be with me or work with me. I am unwelcome.
Repeat that many times over many years.
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#9We are hearing from two people who were able to weather the political whirlwind.
Sadly, this playbook of ostracization is a generally successful one. The people who are successfully sidelined by this kind of behavior become actual pariahs.
Their isolation is so complete that people have a tendency to explain this as "academia working as intended".
Re: Feeling like a pariah, even when you’re not
#10I worked in academia a few years, and moved to industry during my PhD (which I completed).
There were strong political jousts, like everywhere else. This was unfortunately coupled to an inherent lack of money (and low salaries), and enormous egos that were growing as people were getting higher diplomas or positions.
This is one of the reasons that made me left because I saw that either I jump into the cage and bite my way up (putting actual research on the side), or always get sided.
The time where I was finishing my PhD and working at the same time (and therefore I was completely independent financially) was great - I could just flip the finger to the fights and concentrate on research and on teaching (which I loved and still love very, very much).
Academia is no different that other groups of people with common or conflicting interests.