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Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#371

Post by godelski »

whatshisface wrote: post #342
godelski wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's one of the best points of view on "conspiracies" I've ever heard. It's actually how I often think of conspiracy. Not a bunch of men sitting in a room plotting together but a bunch of independent actors with convergent incentives. Also my litmus test for real bona fide conspiracy (Watergate or Contra Affair) vs crackpottery is if it can be boiled down to "wizards did it." It's always interesting that conspiraci…

Conspiracies of the original kind do happen. Like the plot to kill Ceasar.

Of course, see my reference to Watergate and Contra Affairs. Would you not say those are real bona fide conspiracies of the original kind?

The litmus test is not about convergence, it is "wizards did it." Convergence is just a common kind of thing that crackpot conspiracies develop around. It's more rational when you understand convergence because crackpot conspiracy often is re-framed as a misinterpretation of the data.

Qualifiers are also important.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#372

Post by sonicanatidae »

selimthegrim wrote: post #334
sonicanatidae wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They killed any feelings of finishing it. They are thorough in crushing dreams. The best part about all of it? She got to PAY for the semesters that the school itself trashed.

That’s nuts.

What was their consequence?

Nothing, so they really didn't give 2 shits about it.

THATS universities, today.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#373

Post by sonicanatidae »

anonymouskimmer wrote: post #337
sonicanatidae wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, she stopped at a Masters, after this same university forced her to restart her phd thesis 3 TIMES, due to changing staff. She worked on it one semester, then they changed her major professor. Worked on the 2nd one another semester, and they again changed her major professor. Considered a 3rd time and she just threw her hands up and said, fuck it, which I don't blame, at all. She's still a full-time facult…

I think the main problem with issues like this that happened to your partner is people fear making waves so much that they don't even consider going to a lawyer to enforce the implied contract that she had as a grad student with both the university and the original thesis professor. Legal action is used even by unions to enforce their rights and contracts. If you don't have a union, legal action is the only strength…

One of the many things that pissed me off about it was they didn't even try to match her up with a prof in her specialty. Just threw her to the next prof available, because "Fuck it, not my life. That'll be $14k..thanks!"

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#374

Post by drawkward »

qaq wrote: post #366
drawkward wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are conflating use of the phrase "from the river to the sea..." with support for Hamas. The phrase has been used in many ways, and depending on the context, could have different meanings: Benjamin Netanyahu himself was using a map that espoused a "river to the sea" vision of Israel at the UN. [1] A different version "between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty" was a founding ideological…

Netanyahhu is student or professor at elite US university? There are jewish students marching with Israeli flags chanting "from the river to the sea Isreal will be free" on campuses? Would equivalent behavior be allowed toward any other group on campus?

I guess you and I see different things: I see people protesting Israel's response to Hamas' attacks of October 7th. You seem to see harassment of Jewish students. I don't think we will ever close that gap.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#375

Post by sonicanatidae »

Spivak wrote: post #216
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.

> but that new upgrade for the stadium at a cool $120m, seems like a great idea. This doesn't have anything to do with universities specifically. There's always money for endeavors that have positive ROI. You can tell what a person, group, business or institution actually values by the things they spend money on that are true losses.

When a university focuses on everything except education, there is a problem.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#377

Post by sonicanatidae »

golergka wrote: post #223
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.

This just means that's what their customers, who pay the tuition, care about more.

Yes and no, I think.

If it was laid out, that their education would suffer, because the resources that might be put towards it are now put into Sports Team, I suspect they would balk more.

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#379

Post by fooop »

j45 wrote: post #321
fooop wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the world these days is becoming more and more medieval: many different actors, all competing with one another, at different levels of power. Imo, it's a good thing: regular ppl will be more suspicious about power overall and not make as many bad safety/convenience trades.

Assuming people are educated and aware enough to begin with to recognize and then deal with it. The right to read was literally only locked up a few hundred years ago.

these things are much more transparent than us experts like to think they are - people making "uneducated" decisions are often just making decisions that don't fall in line with the expectations of the "educated". Power is legible regardless of whether you know how to read or not (or code (or do immunological research)).

Re: Ousted propaganda scholar accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta

#380

Post by joshe »

Harvard's actions are also consistent with her not doing good research. Note that she was not snapped up by another institution to be faculty, just a "tenure track position". One red flag is that the reporter cites all the times she talked to media and congress. A good indicator that it was superficial and headline driven work.

I'm sure she was a valuable source for reporters needing dramatic quotes on a slow news day, but really there should be more heft than that.

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