tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post6574678252663973619..comments2023-10-10T08:02:18.073-04:00Comments on Rationally Speaking: Liberal bias in academia?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-13348957945438295352012-08-08T08:56:09.470-04:002012-08-08T08:56:09.470-04:00It goes both ways, but the idea in mature debate w...It goes both ways, but the idea in mature debate would be to state any personal connections to the issue before presenting an objective analysis. People might then assess its true objectivity more carefully, a bit like a disclosed and mangeable conflict of interest. Actually, I have aview that all writing should be in the first person rather than the putative objective stance, and be assessed for its candour and objectivity of analysis.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14612283941807324298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-63465729427243972122012-08-07T17:08:34.549-04:002012-08-07T17:08:34.549-04:00I am so sick and tired of cry baby conservatives c...I am so sick and tired of cry baby conservatives complaining about bias in academia. There is plenty of anti-liberal bias in academia throughout the majority of economics, foreign policy, and business departments.LCShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06230899522753297278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-26349494745655303752012-08-07T17:01:24.611-04:002012-08-07T17:01:24.611-04:00"Similarly, I bet dollars to donuts that brig..."Similarly, I bet dollars to donuts that bright conservative types are simply going to find academic life unattractive compared to what else they could do with their talents. After all, they would make relatively little money, they would need to spend a large number of years in extremely low paid and temporary positions (graduate student, postdoc, untenured professor), they would have to withstand constant razor sharp criticism of their ideas (for grant proposals and publications), and they would find themselves in an institution that values things for which they often have little sympathy, such as open discourse, critical thinking, equality, questioning of authority, and so on. (I’m not making this up from the particular standpoint of my liberal bias, there is now plenty of evidence that the conservative mind doesn’t like that stuff.) Why bother?"<br /><br />Best paragraph of the essay. Nicely summarizes what conservatives are.LCShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06230899522753297278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-24396963970442515942012-08-07T09:34:06.734-04:002012-08-07T09:34:06.734-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13341742291748792599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-45368734414118796722012-08-07T07:21:41.486-04:002012-08-07T07:21:41.486-04:00Domics,
yes, blacks, women or members of any othe...Domics,<br /><br />yes, blacks, women or members of any other group are not exempt from paranoia. I know of cases where someone belonging to those groups thought they were being discriminated against and they weren't.<br /><br />As for conducting studies on discrimination in general, notice that the authors in question simply asked about people's *intentions*, they did not investigate actual factual evidence of discrimination. The latter can be done without the control I suggest, the former doesn't seem to make much sense without it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-42189025570809553202012-08-07T05:15:49.230-04:002012-08-07T05:15:49.230-04:00" Mr. Inbar and Mr. Lammer should have examin..." Mr. Inbar and Mr. Lammer should have examined the extent of bias against liberal-leaning papers and grant proposals. If the degree of bias against liberals and conservatives is similar, maybe the data on discrimination against conservatives would not be so alarming after all."<br /><br />good! but should liberals be 'better' than conservatives?Domicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02108175024624509183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-54647458478269399102012-08-07T05:10:28.161-04:002012-08-07T05:10:28.161-04:00" It could be instead that the more conservat..." It could be instead that the more conservative one is the more paranoid he is, and therefore the more likely he thinks he has experienced a hostile climate"...<br /><br />the same for a study about blacks or women? <br /><br />"Perhaps the most problematic aspect of the Inbar and Lammers paper, however, is the above mentioned lack of the obvious control: they didn’t ask conservatives about their biases".<br /><br />So if I make a study about the discrimination of blacks I must ask whites if they are discriminated by blacks; or if I make a study about the discrimination of women I have to ask men if they are discriminated by women...Domicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02108175024624509183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-81494517314696235662012-08-07T03:56:42.820-04:002012-08-07T03:56:42.820-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573847127040276949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-35528467191282322722012-08-07T03:24:03.388-04:002012-08-07T03:24:03.388-04:00Southerm Hemisphere? You have no idea about the bo...Southerm Hemisphere? You have no idea about the book.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10010508932327837220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-84256770921930624552012-08-06T20:42:42.869-04:002012-08-06T20:42:42.869-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573847127040276949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-89430296291005342582012-08-06T19:31:49.953-04:002012-08-06T19:31:49.953-04:00The answer might be in work such as Ian McGilchris...The answer might be in work such as Ian McGilchrist : The Master & His Emissary. He proposes left & right hemispherical differences as a basis for different thinking and attidudes tending to right & left political views, respectively. It might be that simple and ingrained, and able to be studied on that level. He suggests we sway one way or another socially & individually across a contiunuum between them, anatomically and psychologically.<br /><br />As for the manifestations and reporting of bias, one needs to be embedded in that field. Apart from possibly anatomically defining the difference, you could bring politics into the open, admit bais like grwon ups, and deal with it as one would deal with any conflict of interest. That requires open dialog and a minimum of lying. One small real step is to make voting on all 3 levels of government compulsory as it is in Australia, so everyone is a bit politically aware.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10010508932327837220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-16595677392079977122012-08-06T19:06:14.365-04:002012-08-06T19:06:14.365-04:00Third, we find that conservatives fear negative co...<em>Third, we find that conservatives fear negative consequences of revealing their political beliefs to their colleagues.</em><br /><br />I would think that this finding doesn't hold for tenured professors.jrhshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074853182840350306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-17192667075072430492012-08-06T16:59:30.302-04:002012-08-06T16:59:30.302-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573847127040276949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-18831273282917149152012-08-06T16:53:43.571-04:002012-08-06T16:53:43.571-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573847127040276949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-61814262779975122642012-08-06T15:40:19.795-04:002012-08-06T15:40:19.795-04:00I think all such studies are highly problematic be...I think all such studies are highly problematic because there no agreed upon definitions for terms like liberal or conservative. Even in the US, people who call themselves conservatives, tend to fall into one of several camps, which include social and cultural conservatives, economic conservatives, and neo-conservatives. Many people who would consider themselves to be economic conservatives, especially if they style themselves as "libertarians", may also hold decidedly liberal views on social issues.<br /><br />Likewise, there are many people who hold liberal views on economic issues (that is they favor an activist government that provides a generous social safety net, but also hold conservative views on social and cultural issues.<br /><br />And to complicate things further, the US usage of terms like "liberal" do not correspond to how those terms are used in other countries anyway. In the US, the term liberal is generally used for people who follow in the political traditions of political leaders like FDR or JFK. That is people who in Europe would be regarded as being mildly social democratic. In Europe, the term "liberal" is used to designate people who are committed supporters of free-market capitalism - people, who in the US, would generally be designated as economic conservatives or libertarians. Any research that doesn't take these complexities into account, is in my judgment so seriously flawed as to be useless.Jim F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18205756321281305797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-81003019820095314522012-08-06T15:33:57.528-04:002012-08-06T15:33:57.528-04:00What's funny about it?What's funny about it?Tom D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16005219519644708237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-42691939472031099692012-08-06T15:24:15.880-04:002012-08-06T15:24:15.880-04:00"intelligent liberals are simply much more li..."intelligent liberals are simply much more likely to go to work elsewhere because they do not share the values around which Wall Street culture is built (extreme levels of competition, individualism, and greed)."<br /><br />That's funny.C. Van Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09918883799053031223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-40199933990582536262012-08-06T11:17:51.146-04:002012-08-06T11:17:51.146-04:00I'm interested in how this study defined "...I'm interested in how this study defined "conservative" and "liberal." Reference is made to "political" conservatism (intead of social conservatism, for example) but it would seem to me any results would depend on the definitions of these not necessarily well-defined terms.ciceronianushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10134836668562326081noreply@blogger.com