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Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

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Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#241

Post by Ensorceled »

bko wrote: post #151

Maybe as an aside, but why should this research be done at university level? Is it expensive or require their resources? Obviously institutions are at risk of capture by special interests. We can call them non profit but doesn't stop the economics and human nature. Same is true for politicians so oversight could make things even worse as it would be even more centralized and easier to capture . So we should look for…

> Maybe as an aside, but why should this research be done at university level? Is it expensive or require their resources?

I guess the question is ... why shouldn't it be? Social media is a huge part of modern life in the US, has a massive impact and is all both pretty recent and poorly understood. I would expect any half decent university with anthropology or sociology (or even a political science) departments to be doing heavy research in this field.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#242

Post by kjkjadksj »

godelski wrote: post #197
pastacacioepepe wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need a formal conspiracy when you have an elite with converging interests.

There's a joke from a comedian I forget if it is L̶o̶u̶i̶s̶ ̶C̶K̶ George Carlin o̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶. But basically is along the lines that you don't have explicitly collude when you all come from the same backgrounds. The interests are aligned already. It's pointing out that representatives need to actually be from representative populations of people. But he did it in a funny way, this comment really isn't. Edit: thanks lo…

If you want to read about how the media is also roped into these incentive structures, read Manufacturing Consent by Herman and Chomsky.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#243

Post by abeppu »

Setting aside the institutional failures within Harvard, shouldn't this also pose legal problems for the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation? I am certainly not a lawyer, but I thought the tax-benefits of a non-profit were supposed to be tied to some governance requirements and operating in pursuit of some mission other than profit. If when the Chan Zuckerberg foundation gives a donation to a school, an exec from Meta is then put on some Dean's council, and if the foundation's donation is used to pressure the school to advantage the corporation, then it seems like the foundation is operating as an arm of Meta, and is compromised as an independent philanthropic org.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#245

Post by sonicanatidae »

jkestner wrote: post #231
sonicanatidae wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner works at a major U in the US. Top 200ish. They are solely focused on revenue. Teacher pay rarely raised, but that new upgrade for the stadium at a cool $120m, seems like a great idea. FFS, her dept went past the paper budget for one semester, about 5 years ago. The resolution? Do without paper until the next semester. That's what students insane tuition prices bought them. Apathy over education.

And here I thought I could stop buying supplies for our teachers when my kids go to college.

It's no longer crayons and construction paper. It's just reams of regular old copier paper now, but the same thing.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#246

Post by [deleted] »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #137
sonicanatidae wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner works at a major U in the US. Top 200ish. They are solely focused on revenue. Teacher pay rarely raised, but that new upgrade for the stadium at a cool $120m, seems like a great idea. FFS, her dept went past the paper budget for one semester, about 5 years ago. The resolution? Do without paper until the next semester. That's what students insane tuition prices bought them. Apathy over education.

Why are they so focused on that? It seems like a great way to drive a school into the ground.

[deleted]

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#247

Post by graphe »

AlbertCory wrote: post #172
KRAKRISMOTT wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this is how many rich people get their kids into Harvard too That's the entire point and feature of these elite institutions (more specifically, their undergraduate division and business schools), to connect wealth with brilliant people. They are the traditional social institutions of innovation and entrepreneurship before incubators like YC were a thing. If you remove the wealth aspects, then the Ivies are no diff…

> brilliant people I think you meant "people who'd like to join the wealthy ones, or maybe already have."

If you wanted to make money, you would choose business over academia. I know one brilliant math/physics researcher who wanted to go to China because they have better scientific research equipment.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#249

Post by Arson9416 »

nerpderp82 wrote: post #154
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #106

This isn’t unusual in academia btw. It’s an open secret that economics departments are bought the same way— a generous donation to the department in exchange for the donor hand-picking the department chair.

Invisible Hand indeed.

What does this have to do with the free market?

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#250

Post by strangattractor »

sonicanatidae wrote: post #119
93po wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The few very large unis i looked into all made massively more money off investment returns than any operational income. the year i reviewed for the university of texas system showed they could have charged zero tuition that year and still make a profit there are absolutely kickbacks for people in control of those endowments choosing specific investment options with their many billions of dollars

My partner works at a major U in the US. Top 200ish. They are solely focused on revenue. Teacher pay rarely raised, but that new upgrade for the stadium at a cool $120m, seems like a great idea. FFS, her dept went past the paper budget for one semester, about 5 years ago. The resolution? Do without paper until the next semester. That's what students insane tuition prices bought them. Apathy over education.

I would occasionally visit some of my high school friends attending William and Mary in Va (in the 80s). One year the school decided the football stadium needed upgrading so the team could play football in a more competitive division. The students protested - saying they were happy going to watch their not so great team and they did not want to see the school divert interest from academics. The stadium was not built. The school listened to the students.

The problem is many schools are now status symbols similar to an iPhone. People go to them precisely because other people cannot afford them. There are many schools that can provide a similar undergraduate experience - William and Mary for example - but simply do not have the cachet. The alumni, the students, professors and administration all want the prestige. It doesn't have to be that way if people would stop buying into the BS.

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