Political Science major needs advice knowing when to shut up

[s0crates]

If your professor wants a strong argument give them one that they aren't going to find so disagreeable that they are motivated to look closer for problems than they need to. You can believe whatever you want to and are under no pressure to share your beliefs with anyone. Focus on the goal primarily, which in college is getting a degree and moving on to the next step of your life. There are better times and places to let your more unconventional beliefs out into the sunlight.

I have to object to the view that the only goal should be the degree. Education should be about more than that. I think it's advisable to actually learn.

[Predicto]

Just find out what the Professors redlines are. Some you can't avoid, a buddy of mine at UNM had a polysci professor straight up tell him he was not going to get a grade higher than a C no matter what he did. And he told him why - at the time my friend was a member of the NM National Guard and the Professor told him a friend of his had been killed by the National Guard during the Vietnam potests and he would not give a grade higher than a C to a National Guardsman (and he'd have to work hard for that). (Don't know if the Prof held this against all ROTC types though).

I honestly do not believe this story. I believe your buddy told you this, but I do not believe that it is true.

[Stadium-Armory]

I'm a Political Science major and don't remember one instance where the ideology of a professor compromised in any way the historical recounting or interpretation of the things we studied. We usually talked about the varying ideological facets of tricky issues (like Constitutional Law) but never about a preferred political ideology that was promoted by the professor. That was left for us to consider on our own.

And the tests never asked for a particular ideological "right or wrong" but rather for a proper accounting of events, for.. say...Marbury vs. Madison. We covered the case, what it meant in the broader context of judicial review, and what differing view points might be taken on its implications. High marks were awarded for accurate analysis, not picking a side.

Go HOKIES.

After thinking about it, the closest thing I can recall to something like this is a class I took on the US Civil War which was taught by the distinguished Civil War historian James Robertson, Jr. He was obviously a southern man, and I could tell that he would try to provide a different narrative for southern motivations than what most of us had heard in secondary school. Nevertheless I never felt pressured to agree with the southern position, but only to understand it and be able to write about it in an essay on the subject. I took the class during summer school and there were less than 10 people enrolled. It was a great experience and probably one of the top 3 courses I took in college.

[Mocountyskins]

I guess when thinking about it the only time I felt that I was getting screwed was when I was in a big lecture class of 300+ students and the TA's would be the ones grading not actually the professor.

[grhqofb5]

Another approach would be to make sure talk with another student prior to registering for a class taught by a prof.  Find out if he/she is difficult to listen to, and make your choices wisely.  Despite what others may say, in my opinion there's a reason why many profs are in academia.  Two of the more difficult reasons (there's plenty of good ones too), from the perspective of a student, are that (1) they are passionate about their viewpoints, therefore passionate about their work, and therefore want to leave their mark on the next generation, and (2) no one in the corporate sector could stand to be around them, so they never gained traction.

 

Learn to play their game and you'll do well. 10 years from now no one (especially you) will care if you had to bit your tongue.

[Redskins Diehard]

This thread makes much more sense now

[Mocountyskins]

This thread makes much more sense now

Yea, I don't want to write papers like I write on ES.

These people influence me too much I should stop listening to them. That would help me more than anything but it's just so interesting!

 

 

[Mad Mike]

Yea, I don't want to write papers like I write on ES.

These people influence me too much I should stop listening to them. That would help me more than anything but it's just so interesting!

 

 

You should find better influences.  Adam Curry's claim to fame was being an MTV "VJ". Dvorak for making one of the dumbest statements about technology EVER.

 

These guys are idiots and they don't deserve your time.

 

John C. Dvorak - Wikiquote

 

 

 

• The nature of the personal computer is simply not fully understood by companies like Apple (or anyone else for that matter). Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the “why” out of the equation — as in “why would I want this?” The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a “mouse”. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I don’t want one of these new fangled devices.
  • In a review of the Macintosh in The San Francisco Examiner (19 February 1984)

[alexey]

This thread is awfully long for its title.

[Mocountyskins]

You should find better influences.  Adam Curry's claim to fame was being an MTV "VJ". Dvorak for making one of the dumbest statements about technology EVER.

 

These guys are idiots and they don't deserve your time.

 

I'm going to try to listen to them less and less. I feel like there are a few things that they have "taught me" such as being able to see a PR stunt immediately like the Duck Dynasty thing but have obviously given me more bad opinions than good. Basically what happens is they play clips of congressional speakers or senators or news anchors tumbling over their teleprompters or words and laugh at them. After awhile you start to think "Yea these news people are idiots they don't know anything at all!" But I guess if you got enough videos of MJ bricks someone could trick you into thinking you he was a bad player if you didn't know about him previously. So yea I think I'll try to put the pipe down. The only thing that I actually believe that I heard from them was that Alex Jones is an actor that is paid to make alternative news people look crazy. Because usually he just rants and yells and says to pick up guns and take things back and acts completely unreasonable. You would think that you would want to talk slowly and collectively to try to not scare people off and to be taken seriously but he does neither. But back to my point yea they do more harm than good and I don't want to risk basically writing their opinions in a paper and then failing.

[Mad Mike]

I'm going to try to listen to them less and less. I feel like there are a few things that they have "taught me" such as being able to see a PR stunt immediately like the Duck Dynasty thing but have obviously given me more bad opinions than good. Basically what happens is they play clips of congressional speakers or senators or news anchors tumbling over their teleprompters or words and laugh at them. After awhile you start to think "Yea these news people are idiots they don't know anything at all!" But I guess if you got enough videos of MJ bricks someone could trick you into thinking you he was a bad player if you didn't know about him previously. So yea I think I'll try to put the pipe down. The only thing that I actually believe that I heard from them was that Alex Jones is an actor that is paid to make alternative news people look crazy. Because usually he just rants and yells and says to pick up guns and take things back and acts completely unreasonable. You would think that you would want to talk slowly and collectively to try to not scare people off and to be taken seriously but he does neither. But back to my point yea they do more harm than good and I don't want to risk basically writing their opinions in a paper and then failing.

 

I've got to give you mad props. It's not often that someone is willing to take a second look at their own beliefs. To be honest, I find it hard to do myself as a conscious act. The thing that keeps me on my toes is my own insecurity.  

 

I've always been fascinated with Frank Herbert's Dune books. (Forget the movies, they are all dumbed down and other than some occasional good acting and visuals, they all suck). They are more than just a space opera. The world he imagines is one where human capabilities have evolved to super human levels. But along with the fantasy is some very sound logic and reasoning. Take for example the Mentat, Herbert describes them as human computers but a more correct description would be to call them analysts.

 

Here's how Herbert envisions the training of someone who's job it is to analyze the events around them to provide valuable intelligence to the leaders who need it:

 

 

 

Frank Herbert - Chapterhouse Dune, Mentat Fixe

- Ready comprehension is often a knee-jerk response and the most dangerous form of understanding. It blinks an opaque screen over your ablility to learn. The judgemental precedents of law function that way, littering your path with dead ends. Be warned. Understand nothing. All comprehension is temporary.

 

You can find more of his great quotes here but I really recommend reading the books. All of them.

 

As for Alex Jones... No, he's not a paid actor. He really is that crazy. And when you think about it, it would be surprising if there were not someone like him. In a world full of stupid, crazy people, he's just one of the extreme nut jobs.

 

But back to my original point... really man... I'm seriously impressed.