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I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

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Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#121

Post by dragonwriter »

Amezarak wrote: post #117
vacri wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a choice of only two parties to represent a population of 310M people of diverse backgrounds. How can that possibly be anything but unsatisfactory, regardless of your origin?

> You have a choice of only two parties to represent a population of 310M people of diverse backgrounds. That's simply not true, and a drastic oversimplification of American politics. It is true that there are two mainstream America political parties. However, anyone is free to run as an Independent or under the banner of any other party they choose, whether that be the Green Party or the Libertarian Party. Here is a…

> That's simply not true, and a drastic oversimplification of American politics.

It is in practice quite true even if it is not nominally true, and not only that it is true, but the connection between it and the particular kind of poorly-representative electoral system the US has been established by comparative study across democracies.

> There isn't a democracy problem in America

Yes, there is, largely to a very poorly representative electoral system. Lots of elections doesn't make a well-functioning democracy, that takes elections which produce governments that are effectively representative.

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#122

Post by __44x0 »

aaronem wrote: post #63
creshal wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To an European it's always amusing when Americans pretend they have a left wing.

To an American it's always amusing when a European tells us our political system is unsatisfactory. Over and over and over again. Never gets old. No, really. Keep it up.

Didn't catch the Republican debate last night eh? Unsatisfactory does not begin to describe the situation with American politics.

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#123

Post by stefantalpalaru »

druddha wrote: post #109
BellsOnSunday wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't recognise the prejudice against practical skills in my neck of the woods (CS dept in a UK university) but religious colleagues are quietly looked down upon and sometimes mocked. (Not that there are many of them.) I try as hard as I can not to judge such people myself but will admit to finding it hard to take someone seriously who believes in such stuff. Being able or unable to change a tyre doesn't come close…

Mocking or looking down on people is generally a poor practice. However, it should not surprise someone in the sciences if they are passed over for job opportunities based on their religious beliefs. Those beliefs may limit your capacity to effectively perform your job.

> Those beliefs may limit your capacity to effectively perform your job.

Sounds like an unsubstantiated belief to me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_...

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#124

Post by BellsOnSunday »

engi_nerd wrote: post #115
it_learnses wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For anyone who wants to experience it, walk into any Reddit discussion and tell everyone you're a devout Christian and watch the pseudo intellectuals exercise their "openness." Strawman.

Is it? How? EDIT: I was asking not because I disagreed, but because I was hoping the parent would elaborate on that point. The person who replied to my post did a very good job at that.

Because being listened to in a reddit discussion isn't a right that anyone has and not having it doesn't hold anyone back in any way. My views wouldn't go down well on a religious forum. Am I bothered? Do I look bothered?

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#125

Post by jacquesm »

merpnderp wrote: post #2

I once sat in on an academic research meeting where the PI of the group stated "If there are any Republicans in the room, leave, you are fired." They felt comfortable enough saying this even though there were obviously people there from outside the group and nothing like that could be kept secret.

So, did you get up and leave out of solidarity with the Republicans? If someone pulled that stunt here I'd be out of there. Politics are people's private business (unless they hold a very visible function, then it becomes relevant again but for folks just doing a job somewhere politics should be a non issue).

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#126

Post by mikeash »

talmand wrote: post #96
munin wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

being forced to pray at school events is pretty simple, the teacher asks "why aren't you praying?" and sends you to the principals office. nobody within a 200mi radius of you thinks that there is anything wrong with this because "it's the way it's always been" and there's no higher power to appeal to, so... how can you "have an honest dialogue" with someone that thinks that you are going to burn in Hell and tells you…

No, that's a mild punishment for not praying at a school event. That is not forcing you to pray, you can continue to refuse to pray in that case. Were you somehow forced to pray once you got to the principal's office? There is always a higher power to appeal to unless the head of your country's government and legal system agrees with the sentiment. I agree it's a hard path to take, but the option is there. I guess in…

So we're not forced to pay taxes or refrain from murdering people?

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#127

Post by dragonwriter »

dhimes wrote: post #114
dragonwriter wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As such, I have a lot of Christian friends but, it is understandable that some "intellectuals" are hostile to those with strong religious beliefs given that many with similar beliefs deny scientific concepts like evolution, advocate teaching creationism in schools, and deny the existence of global warming. I think the usual word with hostility toward people not because of things they do, but because of things other…

Do you consider being a Christian something you do or is it a trait?

> Do you consider being a Christian something you do or is it a trait?

It doesn't really matter which, given that the GP was in response to a post about it being understandable to have hostility to "those with strong religious beliefs" not because of what those directly receiving the hostility do, but because of various things that "many with similar beliefs" do.

Whether or not "being a Christian" or "having strong religious beliefs" is "something you do" or "a trait", if you are hostile to people to which the description applies because other people who share that description do other things which justify hostility, that's bigotry.

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#128

Post by thieving_magpie »

eric_bullington wrote: post #57
thieving_magpie wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you're saying. I just disagree that isn't a two way street. I'm from the South and can't go home without being made fun of for "doing computers".

> I'm from the South and can't go home without being made fun of for "doing computers". I'm from the South and have never heard of an adult being made fun of for working with computers. And my family on both paternal and maternal sides is very Southern, having been in SC/NC since before the Revolutionary War. I have noticed that some family tease a lot about anything and everything, but this seems to cross regions an…

Neat - well I have. Maybe it's a southern Georgia thing. I also don't "look" like someone that would work as a developer, in their eyes.

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#129

Post by [deleted] »

vacri wrote: post #120
engi_nerd wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't being insulting a valid part of humor? And I would hesitate to call such a mild joke "abuse".

Given that the GP is complaining of feeling excluded by such things, it's hypocritical to do the same in reverse. The GP is basically deriding all people on high salary as being pseudo-intellectuals. The problem I have with the GP is not the literal words (I have no problem with style), but that he's complaining of being stereotyped while spreading a stereotyped anti-intellectual message.

[deleted]

Re: I was denied admission to a PhD program because of my perceived political views

#130

Post by druddha »

FussyZeus wrote: post #32
thieving_magpie wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>most of whom can't even swap a tire for a donut without calling AAA. There's a certain irony here I can't dismiss. You write three paragraphs about being victimized by stereotyping Middle America, then end your rant by.... stereotyping everyone on the east coast (or those who sought extended education).

It's less a generalization of everyone who has a degree being incapable of performing that task (I'd imagine a lot would be able to figure it out, it's not complicated) and more the idea that knowledge which is highly useful such as that is viewed as being "beneath" knowledge such as a thorough understanding of the writings of Socrates. The catch there is that knowing Socrates isn't getting you off the side of the ro…

Knowing how to change a flat is not "highly useful" knowledge if you have a AAA membership. The reason changing a flat is considered "beneath" knowledge like understanding Socrates ideas is because it takes time and effort to comprehend complex, abstract topics. Whereas changing a tire is an easy skill to learn for any person.

In fact, a scholarly person refusing to learn how to change a flat tire is of benefit to society because it frees their mind to contemplate more complicated matters and allows for less the less ambitious or less capable to still have functions in the economy.

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