I have a based-on-nothing suspicion that this has a ton to do with an online culture that has for nearly 20 years has banged on incessantly about objectivity and reason and logic etc. The derisive ‘le logic’ meme that made fun of the new atheists/Ron Paul types wore out its welcome fairly quickly, but I think it was bang-on — I’d be really interested to read a study about the trajectory from “logic and reason” to “facts don’t have feelings”.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑25 Oct 2021, 10:51amOne thing that I constantly battle against is students' inclination to criticize a writer for having a "bias." The writer has a feminist bias or a conservative bias or whatever. It's seemingly predicated on a notion that scholars have a duty to be objective, to present all sides of an issue, clap their hands, and walk away—ta da, a book! There's a perverse notion that having an opinion or perspective or philosophy means being unfair. But, in practice, it usually means "I didn't like what they said." They want their own perspective to be confirmed. (Students also complain about scholarly works where they come across strange new terms that they have to look up. Horrors! You mean you're … learning … something? In a university course?) It's fundamentally intellectual laziness.Silent Majority wrote: ↑25 Oct 2021, 9:08amWhere'd this shit originate?Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑24 Oct 2021, 9:17pmGrading book reviews this weekend and am depressed by the number of students who think it's inappropriate for a scholar to interpret lyrics because, well, the lyrics could mean anything and it's wrong that the author is imposing their view. Kinda helps explain how anti-vax bullshit gains traction if experts aren't allowed to express their opinions without it being tyranny.
A lot of people seem to have this weird conception in relation to journalism as well, that ‘real journalism’ merely presents the facts in a vacuum… which inevitably leads to the kind of gotta-hear-both-sideisms that we so enjoyed over the past five years.