tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post2090628438777644073..comments2023-11-10T09:15:40.084-08:00Comments on The Friends of Jake: Do we need Republican scientists?Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10124314924693077453noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post-32359856924200572902010-12-18T12:55:25.626-08:002010-12-18T12:55:25.626-08:00Textjunkie, that is no surprise to me. Engineers ...Textjunkie, that is no surprise to me. Engineers are very, very different than scientists, and they tend not to deal with the same kinds of intellectual problems--more about problem solving then "gee, how does this work?" kind of thing. It's a very big cultural difference.IThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09605163506396013904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post-27130357212048146712010-12-18T07:00:19.615-08:002010-12-18T07:00:19.615-08:00A friend of mine in engineering pointed out that t...A friend of mine in engineering pointed out that the proportion of fundamentalist Christians (and religious right Republicans by extension) was much higher in engineering than in the sciences in general. We both figured it was a combination of mindset and peer identification that worked better in engineering than in other academic disciplines.textjunkienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post-47816250968221570342010-12-17T07:25:13.860-08:002010-12-17T07:25:13.860-08:00I agree that the liberalism of Academia is way ove...I agree that the liberalism of Academia is way over-stated. I remember in 2004 seeing plenty of Bush-Cheney bumper stickers in the faculty parking lot of the community college where I taught at the time.<br />I agree that what has really changed is the Republican Party. It has morphed into the political wing of a far-right religious and ideological movement. I also agree that most people who identify as "Independent" these days would probably have been card-carrying Republicans 50 years ago.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post-65096740833255878172010-12-16T21:49:03.563-08:002010-12-16T21:49:03.563-08:00Well, IT, this relates to one of my key arguments:...Well, IT, this relates to one of my key arguments: Republicans <i>are not</i> conservatives. <br /><br />To be a conservative, you have to want to conserve something, and they don't. They want to destroy - science, education, other countries, liberals, free thought - anything that threatens their comfort level. They're radicals, destructive, aggressive radicals.MarkBrunsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16971990948866488080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8238382886103256219.post-23909675833598905172010-12-16T14:34:51.746-08:002010-12-16T14:34:51.746-08:00Not quite on-topic, but related:
Young Canadians ...Not quite on-topic, but related:<br /><br />Young Canadians quitting religion: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/young-canadians-increasingly-shunning-religious-institutions/article1837678/<br /><br />A snippet:<br /><br /><i>The conflict of religious faith and rational thought became no longer containable for Jonathan Bright, a 23-year-old law student at University of Toronto. Six months ago, he quit the Roman Catholic Church. He had kept his mother, a regular churchgoer, informed of the decision taking shape in his mind. Still, he acknowledges, “she was a little upset,” as was his former girlfriend, a devout Catholic. <br /><br />The final impetus for his decision was both a fresh series of priestly sex scandals and cover-ups in Europe and the force of logic. The constraints imposed by the church no longer made sense to him – on matters such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception. He saw ways to follow an ethical life through the teachings of the law that didn't require some necessary hierarchy.</i><br /><br />Interesting use of the term "rationalism" and "rational beliefs." Scratch the surface, and I really don't think young people are leaving (in droves) because the <i>cosmological beliefs</i>---the overarching faith-claims---are "irrational."<br /><br />It's because the <i>social/ethical beliefs</i> are! (Or rather, that religious morals are, so often, IMMORAL)<br /><br />Lots of these young people, "we" may never get back...<br /><br />...but a bunch of them, I think we <i>can</i> get back: WHEN we have morals that are actually moral (Behold TEC!). AND, when the Empty Universe (w/o any Higher Power'd <i>Meaning</i>, per se) no longer "gets you through the night." [Basically, when they come back to us, it'll be through our medical chaplains? Or before then---POTLUCKS! ;-D (or soup kitchens, as likely, as our economy continues to wither. Which sadly, I think it will...)]JCFnoreply@blogger.com