In case y’all are curious the Insta reel was joking about how harsh markers are on first years and I responded:
I maintain that degrees exist mainly to ensure that the only people who get into research are:
1) People with the most crippling imposter syndrome in existence who will literally do twenty years of research on something and still be convinced they’re under qualified and wrong
2) The most insufferable confident assholes you’ll ever meet
(Degrees also teach you information of course but that’s just a natural byproduct of the confidence destroying process)
And like, naturally that’s an oversimplification lmao. But dear god if it doesn’t have a pebble of truth. Which I say as one of the most insufferable overconfident fuckers you’ll ever meet.
Like degrees are a bottleneck and it’s only a certain type of person who usually wants to continue being incessantly critiqued. And honestly I think it’s the wrong type of people.
Even if you look at the history of universities you usually actually find the precedent for this observation. In Australia, at least, you can look at the first University curriculums and their exam design and the designers straight up say they are trying to get rid of a certain type of people in a trial by fire way. They’re inherently an exclusionary institution.
Also, after having some experience researching with people who have not done a formal degree, I think some of this confidence destroying is good. If you’re trying to produce information you should have a bit of doubt in how correct you are.
Do I think this goes way too far? Yes! Because you have way too many academic researchers who are just incapable of taking criticism on board because those sorts of people (me included) literally will not care if someone has a different opinion and that’s why they survive. And those voices drown out the imposter syndrome academics who are not sure they’re right.
And THAT is how you get Neil deGrasse Tyson.
But I can’t say this entire line of rant and observation because it’s Instagram and Instagram has word limits.
And even if I did say all this to include the complexities of the argument, people would tear it apart instead of the culture on here, where people just say ideas being aware that it’s not an argument. At least in general.
I find it more fun and interesting to just say things and create a melting pot of discussion then constantly get into wars.
