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I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

scottaaronson.blog

31–40 of 115 posts

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#31
post #25

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

> Hopefully this ends with colleges having their tax exempt status revoked. Only if we do churches at the same time.

churches don't get billions annually in government funding, they are treated like any other charity in terms of donations

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#32
post #7

[flagged]

> the dogmatic belief that the State of Israel (and only Israel, among all nations on earth) should be eradicated

Attributing this to people you disagree with on the issue is a telltale sign of bad faith.

But nevertheless, nice to still see him speaking out, and in general he does sometimes discuss opposing views in a bit better faith.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#34
post #25

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

> Hopefully this ends with colleges having their tax exempt status revoked. Only if we do churches at the same time.

[dead]

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#35
Glad Harvard finally decided attacks against academia have gone too far. It wasn't too far when scientists were forced to make an ideological oath to diversity to get hired [1,2], when they were hired primarily based on adherence to that ideology [3,4,5], when they were told by major scientific publications to avoid or simply not publish studies that might question that ideology [6,7], when they disavowed studies based solely on them being used to criticize favored causes [8], when papers were rejected if their results went against the liberal worldview, but methodologically-identical papers with pro-liberal results were accepted [9], or when scientists were barred from accessing taxpayer-funded data if there was a risk their research might harm the dominant ideology [10].

It was too far - a crisis! - when Harvard disagreed with the attackers, when the attackers were outsiders.

[1] Required ‘diversity and inclusion’ statements amount to a political litmus test for hiring - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-universitys-new-loyalty-oat...

[2] Diversity Statements Required for One-Fifth of Academic Jobs - https://www.schoolinfosystem.org/2021/11/11/study-diversity-...

[3] Berkeley Weeded Out Job Applicants Who Didn't Propose Specific Plans To Advance Diversity - https://reason.com/2020/02/03/university-of-california-diver...

[4] A recent report from the Goldwater Institute found that 80% of job postings for Arizona’s public universities required applicants to submit a statement detailing their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. - https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/policy-report/the-new-loy...

[5] Mathematicians divided over faculty hiring practices that require proof of efforts to promote diversity - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/mathematicians-divid...

[6] Science Must Not Be Used to Foster White Supremacy - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-must-not-...

[7] Science must respect the dignity and rights of all humans - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01443-2

[8] I Cited Their Study, So They Disavowed It - https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-cited-their-study-so-they-dis...

[9] Human subjects review, personal values, and the regulation of social science research. - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1986-12806-001

[10] The National Institutes of Health now blocks access to an important database if it thinks a scientist’s research may enter “forbidden” territory. - https://www.city-journal.org/nih-blocks-access-to-genetics-d...

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#36
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are acting as if the world is binary and either the previous status quo was justified or Trump's actions are justified, neither of which have to be the case.

Previous status quo was absolutely unjustified, therefore brave students protested it, at a great personal risk while being slandered as "antisemites" by individuals like Scott Aaronson.

> brave students protested it, at a great personal risk while being slandered as "antisemites" by individuals like Scott Aaronson

Do you have an example?

Israel-Palestine is a nuanced ground truth that has been ridiculously oversimplified in American discourse. "Pro Israel" covers folks who want to kill every Palestinian and annex their land to those who just don't want kids slaughtered at raves. "Pro Palestine" covers people who want the basic human dignity of an ancient people respected, through those who want to destroy Israel as a nation-state, all the way over to full-blown racists who hate Jews (or anyone with European heritage).

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#37
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are acting as if the world is binary and either the previous status quo was justified or Trump's actions are justified, neither of which have to be the case.

Previous status quo was absolutely unjustified, therefore brave students protested it, at a great personal risk while being slandered as "antisemites" by individuals like Scott Aaronson.

Especially as even being baselessly accused of antisemitism carries very real chance for ruining careers and reputations.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#38
post #7

[flagged]

> the dogmatic belief that the State of Israel (and only Israel, among all nations on earth) should be eradicated Attributing this to people you disagree with on the issue is a telltale sign of bad faith. But nevertheless, nice to still see him speaking out, and in general he does sometimes discuss opposing views in a bit better faith.

> Attributing this to people you disagree with on the issue is a telltale sign of bad faith

I've been in rooms in New York with very smart people who argued exactly this. That the founding of Israel was a mistake and that we should poof it away. (Something about decolonization usually meanders its way in there.)

They're a minority. Like the people who want to relocate Palestinians from Gaza are, to my knowledge, a minority. But they both exist.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#39
post #23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why they needed to be the one to fight, if they folded no one else had a chance to stop this government overreach.

I am not up to date on all details, but how exactly is it overreach? It's a good question whether government should give money (9bn but I could be wrong) for research, but lets put that aside for now. (who determines what "research" is this? it could be quantum mechanics, or it could be "gender studies") Curious as to why do you think this is an overreach.

https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/...

Did you read the demands?

"By August 2025, the University must adopt and implement merit-based hiring policies, and cease all preferences based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin throughout its hiring, promotion, compensation, and related practices among faculty, staff, and leadership. Such adoption and implementation must be durable and demonstrated through structural and personnel changes. All existing and prospective faculty shall be reviewed for plagiarism and Harvard’s plagiarism policy consistently enforced. All hiring and related data shall be shared with the federal government and subjected to a comprehensive audit by the federal government during the period in which reforms are being implemented, which shall be at least until the end of 2028."

Trump administration is now the defacto HR department for Harvard, and eventually all universities.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#40

Just a few decades ago US had quotas, how many Jews could study on university. Isaac Asimov could not be medical doctor, and become writer for this reason! Even today Harward is doing everything it can, to have a less Jews, they are not preferred minority! Please spare me of this selective "antisemitism"!

[flagged]
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