Monday, December 18, 2006

Recalling the (not so) good old days...

Dr. Myers has been reminiscing about graduate school.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't sound as if it was always the best time:

It is a fact that you will find honest-to-god flaming assholes in positions of considerable power in academia.

He is a biologist. I am a historian. But I can honestly say that this is ONE statement which bridges the two cultures.

Can I get this on a t-shirt?

Fortunately, there are also some quite wonderful, inspiring and very helpful people in academia (whether in positions of power or not). So, it's not all grim (and maybe no less grim than other fields of endeavour, but not being a banker or engineer, I can't say...)

His story is not a pretty one. It did, however, have a happy end. And it is instructive.

Enjoy.

Speaking of flaming assholes...

...an especially juvenile stunt organised by arch-Creationist (and arch-idiot) William Dembski is also discussed at Pharyngula.

In a response Richard Dawkins calls Dembski 'a real loser.'

Less pithy than Dawkins's usual ripostes. But no less accurate for that.

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