Merged Arday life and death

[SpuriusMaximus]

Regardless, the vast majority of postmodernism is just bonkers garbage. I mean seriously, anthropologists should believe native tribes when they claim their magic is real and that they can fly? Really?

Well, I suppose I can see the postmodernism taint in there, but strictly speaking postmodernism is a school of philosophy. And dafter by half.

As for anthropology... it is more complex. And sad. On the surface, anthropology claims to not make judgments and just present the data as is, including about beliefs. Same as history, I guess. It just is what it is. I can get behind that.

The problem is that a lot of anthropologists do make judgments, and they always tended to veer into what we now call "woke", long before "woke" was mainstream.

As for that particular example, I think it's not about postmodernism per se, but someone being mentally confused about what it means to not make judgements and just present the facts. The fact is that they BELIEVED magic is real. Which is unremarkable. But it doesn't mean that magic IS real.

More specifically not understanding the difference between intensional and extensional. Lois Lane BELIEVES that Clark Kent isn't Superman. It doesn't mean that he actually isn't. Anything involving "believes", "thinks", "says", or the like is inherently intensional, and the normal extensional logic breaks down in funny ways when used on intensional stuff.

 

[SpuriusMaximus]

Just want to throw out for consideration that a whole lot of people have a habit of assuming secret hidden racism communicated by code in an awful lot of people an awful lot of the time.

I really, genuinely don't think racism is nearly as prevalent in reality as you seem to. Some exists, certainly. But it's just not as much as you think.

The main problem with the supposed "code" and "dog whistles" these days is that by now there are supposedly several DOZENS of them. And you can add whatever to the list. Just anything you'd rather call a dog whistle instead of addressing will do just fine. Like, even someone in support of teaching maths will do, since that was called racist before. Sure, go for it.

I doubt that even the most die-hard racist even heard of even half of them, much less be able to recognise them in some text or video. Which kinda defeats the whole purpose. The whole reason why an actual dog whistle exists is that dogs CAN hear them. If you have to train your dog to even recognise one, it's no different from teaching them to respond to verbal commands.

 

[Darat]

I think its worse than that

If anyone should be held responsible for his death (other than Arday himself) its Cambridge University. They are the ones who allowed their better judgement to be overridden by their left-wing, progressive virtue-signaling; their ideologically-driven obsession with DEI/EDI in order to be seen as the wokest of the woke.

They set Jason Arday up to fail, and then they abandoned him when he did.

If he was one of these mythical "DEI hires" why didn't Cambridge chose one of the more "DEI"s folk?

 

[Darat]

Well, I suppose I can see the postmodernism taint in there, but strictly speaking postmodernism is a school of philosophy. And dafter by half.

As for anthropology... it is more complex. And sad. On the surface, anthropology claims to not make judgments and just present the data as is, including about beliefs. Same as history, I guess. It just is what it is. I can get behind that.

The problem is that a lot of anthropologists do make judgments, and they always tended to veer into what we now call "woke", long before "woke" was mainstream.

As for that particular example, I think it's not about postmodernism per se, but someone being mentally confused about what it means to not make judgements and just present the facts. The fact is that they BELIEVED magic is real. Which is unremarkable. But it doesn't mean that magic IS real.

More specifically not understanding the difference between intensional and extensional. Lois Lane BELIEVES that Clark Kent isn't Superman. It doesn't mean that he actually isn't. Anything involving "believes", "thinks", "says", or the like is inherently intensional, and the normal extensional logic breaks down in funny ways when used on intensional stuff.

"The problem is that a lot of anthropologists do make judgments, and they always tended to veer into what we now call "woke", long before "woke" was mainstream."

You mean when it was political correctness gone mad?

I'd like to see some support for your claim.

 

[SpuriusMaximus]

If he was one of these mythical "DEI hires" why didn't Cambridge chose one of the more "DEI"s folk?

I suppose they were criticised for not having enough blacks.

Plus I doubt that they had one which actually ticked more Equity boxes. I mean, what with also his story of overcoming various handicaps and outright disabilities.

 

[SpuriusMaximus]

"The problem is that a lot of anthropologists do make judgments, and they always tended to veer into what we now call "woke", long before "woke" was mainstream."

You mean when it was political correctness gone mad?

I'd like to see some support for your claim.

More like pushing cultural relativism.

I mean, I've already mentioned that college manual WAAAY back showing Bedouin women wearing ninja masks in a tent, with the caption saying "see? they're happy in their own way." Yeah, right, happy my hairy ass... We've seen in the recent demonstrations in Iran how happy Muslim women in Islamic countries are with their lot in life. No way I was taking THAT drivel the next year.

But anyway, my complaint is: if your supposed creed is just to say the facts and make no judgements, then DO JUST THAT. The moment you comment stuff like they're happy in their own way, that's a judgement.

 

[smartcooky]

If he was one of these mythical "DEI hires" why didn't Cambridge chose one of the more "DEI"s folk?

Firstly, I want to be clear about what I mean by a DEI hire... its when a woman, a person of color, or a person with same sex attraction, or a transgender person, or a person with disabilities, is hired ahead of another candidate who is better qualified for the job, and is hired/appointed precisely because of those aforementioned attributes.

Now you can bleat all you like about it being illegal but you and I both it makes no difference. Its not a myth, it happens, and if you think it doesn't, then you have been walking around with your eyes shut for the last decade.

Secondly, why would they have chosen one of the others, when Arday appeared to tick all those DEI wokeness boxes

Young

Black

Neurodivergent

Apparently self-made

Apparently overcame a difficult upbringing

To Cambridge University, Jason Arday must have looked like a wokester's unilateral wet dream.

 

[SpuriusMaximus]

I'm only surprised he didn't also claim to be bisexual and gender-fluid to tick two more boxes, and good luck with disproving either without being psychic

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Accidentally submitted, will try again.

 

[Rolfe]

A couple of long articles that have really dug up the receipts.

Jason Arday Lied About Being Autistic

And much else.

cartrarian.substack.com

Star Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Lied for Years About Raising Millions for Charity: Simon & Schuster Scrubbed Financial Details From His New Memoir and Falsehoods From His Bio

The celebrity Cambridge education professor Jason Arday—whose rags-to-riches memoir from Simon & Schuster lands August 11—has repeatedly lied about his charitable fundraising prowess, according to 16 years of records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The revelation comes as Arday's...

freebeacon.com

 

[Safe-Keeper]

This thread reminds me of a certain social studies teacher I had in high school. She came from a socialist-oriented youth party and didn't even try to leave her own views at the door. She'd introduce a topic, allow us to discuss it for a few minutes, and then launch into a lecture about her own views. Anyone who raised their hand and agreed with her were praised, anyone with a view she didn't like were brusquely shushed.

She also made no secret of the facts that she loved Marx and couldn't stand the USA. As in, she took every opportunity to bring up things the US had done, or things she felt they did wrong, even in totally unrelated conversations. Meanwhile anything resembling criticism of certain other cultures was met with accusations of 'ethnocentrism'. Once I was foolish enough to state (tbf I don't remember the context) that a lot of Muslims were angered by the Muhammed cartoons, and I got a 15 minute tirade in return about how saying that was generalizing, prejudiced, ethnocentric, and 'actually a little bit racist'.

She too, possibly because she was a politician, was really charismatic and seemed to have a knack for making students admire her. Well, some of them. Several of us were just irritated with her and there was often audible sighing when we tried to say our opinions and she shut is down.

I quit her class when I eventually couldn't stand her anymore.

Having said all that... I get it if social studies classes slant left/green to begin with. Reality has a liberal bias.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

"The problem is that a lot of anthropologists do make judgments, and they always tended to veer into what we now call "woke", long before "woke" was mainstream."

You mean when it was political correctness gone mad?

I'd like to see some support for your claim.

I'd like to know what these unfortunate woke judgments are, too.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

If he was one of these mythical "DEI hires" why didn't Cambridge chose one of the more "DEI"s folk?

I find this whole 'DEI hire' thing so weird to begin with. I mean, I don't, I understand it's a dog whistle for wanting workplaces and positions of power to be only for straight white men, and it's a thin veneer for saying white straight men are automatically best at any given job (even though we know diverse workplaces work far better --reality, liberal bias, etc.)...

...But it's not as if the GOP and their various hangers-on are way more obsessed with race, gender, and all the other scary ways humans can be diverse than the centre and left will ever be. Can't you make a just as strict checklist for the Drumpf circles? White, white parents, white name, Christian, cis (of course they won't say cis because the word frightens them, but still), straight (although closeted, self-hating non-straight will do), and the list goes on. Allow a few women and Undesirables in as tokens --to be spent when you don't need them anymore.

I can find the same anecdotal extreme cases of people hired solely for their gender, skin colour, etc. In right/far right circles, too, of course --invariably someone with the right private parts, heritage, and preferences regarding sex partners get hired over way more qualified women or people of colour. In fact in the GOP it seems to happen all the time.

Every accusation...

 

[Rolfe]

This didn't happen i America. Lots of places aren't America.

 

[Steve]

This didn't happen i America. Lots of places aren't America.

Just wait! Trump isn't done renaming things yet.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

This didn't happen i America. Lots of places aren't America.

Strictly speaking it doesn't matter. The people I talked about are the same everywhere.

 

[dirtywick]

i'd consider reform the british version of maga, it's basically the same people behind them. could anybody familiar with english media and politics say if they weighed in on this situation or dei in general, and if so what was their take?

 

[Darat]

This didn't happen i America. Lots of places aren't America.

Tell that to the people who seem only to be able to view the events through their prism of "DEI"/political correctness gone mad. (We will be seeing the stories about Baa Baa Black Sheep being replaced with a woke version soon!)

So far there is zero evidence that he was employed on anything bar merit. Now we know that his qualifications were suspect but I doubt there is a university in the world that goes and examines the PhD thesis of the people they are selecting for a job and check it for plagiarism, we can use hindsight to criticise his hiring but at the time it seems he would have been an ideal candidate - if he had been the academic he portrayed himself to be.

Now as to after he was hired - well yes it is obvious Cambridge didn't give two hoots about whether he could do his job and they did not do anything once complaints and the like started to come to light.

Interestingly Cambridge will be able to reexamine their hiring of him as in the UK all notes about interviews, emails and so on should be kept so they will be able to see why he was chosen from the possible candidates.

 

[Ziggurat]

So far there is zero evidence that he was employed on anything bar merit.

You have that backwards. So far there is zero evidence that he was employed on merit.

 

[d4m10n]

So far there is zero evidence that he was employed on merit.

Arday was uniquely meritorious.

Only person in history to feature in a documentary filmed two decades before his own birth.

Only person in history to run nine marathons in under two weeks with a fractured leg.

Only athlete ever to play academy-level football without any clubs actually seeing him, thereby proving that it is possible to combine soccer with ninjitsu.

Only person to become a visiting professor at Nelson Mandela University, University of Glasgow, and Ohio State University without anyone from those schools seeing him, once again pushing the bounds of applied ninjitsu.