I recall Obama saying once that whenever he’s about to make a public statement, he’d repeat the phrase (or read the speech) three times to himself, because he was so ridiculously careful about misspeaking or saying things that could be taken out of context. The guy slips up one time, and trumpies never forgive.
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I thought we all learned about the “Doctorates don’t imply general intelligence” thing when brain surgeon Ben Carson started sharing his theories on Egyptology.
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I’ve interviewed many PhD holders that were morons outside of the scope of their own narrow research.
(disclaimer: I’m an autodidact engineer, without formal training or certification)
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We need a hackathon to create an “Out-of-context bot” that analyses a speech and takes out dependent clauses, articles and pronouns and shuffles words and gives you a preview of tomorrow’s Fox News headlines. Of course then Fox would jut co-opt it and streamline their operation, but still, it would give you a heads-up.
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I totally agree with this assessment because, if you read or listen to the way Trump supporters parse their views; those that are oblivious to context, they will always have something to say about “the elites” so what better way to gain instant recognition than posing as what they would consider an elite? Their other behaviours indicates otherwise. Its the difference between being able to establish an internalized sense of reality, aka, personal truths, from that which effects everyone despite what biases they may harbor.
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I read it more as them groping for a justification in the face of behavior and policy they find difficult to defend or support specifically. They support the guy out of tribalism and bias (both cognative/ideological and ethnic/racial). Even if they dont realize it. So they cast about for an explaination. And “he encourages people” is what they can come up with.
On one side of it; its depressingly, frustratingly complacent. And dense. Its people who are willfully unwilling to examine their own choices and proclivities.
On the other end of it that sort of retreat from blind defense of the policies themselves is often enough a first step in growing disillusioned with a movement or community. Or outright giving up on belief. You look at conspiracy, psuedoscience and other false beliefs rather than just politics. Or even hardline religious movements. Something like bigfoot a move from “bigfoot is real here are all these TRUE FACTS that prove it”. To “hey man you never know unless you check, bigfoot could be real”. Usually comes from the realization that all those deeply held beliefs turned out to be paper. That the people who pushed them were unreliable or disingenuious. And goes hand in hand with a withdrawl from whatever scene, ethusiast group, or movement you were once deeply committed to.
Political affiliations, particularly on the right given the deep conspiracy thought at the base of the current movement. Is subject to the same biases, processes, psychology as those false belief subjects.
So there’s that. Could be the first threads unraveling.
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I know a few myself! A PhD is no measure of intelligence or worldly wisdom, just a signifier that you invested the time and money into a few more years of school and a thesis on one topic.
I once worked at a design studio where three old ladies were once put in charge of “quality assessment” and we were told they had doctorates as a mark of their qualifications. It turned out they were all retired kindergarten teachers.
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Fixed that for you
Have you considered asking for a refund?
Seems she has a history of these wrong headed rants
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“My name is Elmer J. Fudd, I own a mansion and a yacht.”
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The trouble with so-called “institutions of higher learning” these days is that folks spend hundreds of thousands of dollars getting doctorates and enter the business world not even knowing how to do basic research. Those “academics” in their “ivory towers” need to come down to “main street” and learn some “life skills”.
“smfh”
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A little research indicates that she’s a classical pianist and musicologist who does indeed have a PhD (I’d assume in music or performance given her bio and career) from a legit institution.* How this gives her some special authority when it comes to discussing political science or history is unexplained (her hero is certainly no champion of federal funding for the arts). No-one will be surprised to learn she’s a white blonde lady, at least in her mid-40s.
In yet another letter to the editor she sees the lack of income for her classical CDs via digital channels being the result not of predatory corporate practises but rather “cultural degeneration” (I’ll bet she just loves the rap music).
[* it took me about 5 minutes to stumble into a basic doxx on her including exact address, phone number, e-mail, complete bio, photo, etc. but I’m not sharing the info]
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It should go without saying that’s not remotely applicable to all academics, but individuals who are only “book smart” certainly do exist.
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Is my sarcasm modulator on the fritz again??
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My dad, PhD in Experimental Physics, “Just because you’re a doctorate doesn’t mean you’re smart.” (Based on experiences at Los Alamos National Labs.)
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I’ve always liked the following definition: An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less.
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And tolerate an inordinate amount of bs.
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A FB friend of mine who is very much pro-republican and religious had posted months ago what the big deal was with Trump and him having affairs, or having dozens of pending litigations, or having potential russian ties. I took the time to thoroughly counterpoint her dismissals and quite sure she ignored my responses. Not surprised honestly because people believe what they want to believe and they always think that Trump is the best thing since Jesus.
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I’ve made this point here recently:
Ben Carson is a brain surgeon.
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I thought he meant that if you are a small business owner you weren’t involved in the construction of he infrastructure necessary to be successful. Either way, a dishonest read the way she’s presenting it.
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