tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post78774752152318568..comments2023-10-06T15:32:58.414+01:00Comments on Academic, Hopeful: Calling on All AcademicsAcademic, Hopefulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17474557296107830403noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-27220762809060891812009-07-01T05:30:38.916+01:002009-07-01T05:30:38.916+01:00There are matters of judgment, and there are matte...There are matters of judgment, and there are matters of taste. Questions of justice? Judgment. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Taste.<br /><br />Matters of taste require no argument. So one of the problems you're having, I think, is that you're basically trying to explain why you've chosen chocolate ice cream when he chose vanilla. Or you're trying to argue why chocolate ice cream is good and valuable to someone who doesn't understand why someone wouldn't just switch to vanilla or even strawberry. "How could you persevere through all that chocolate ice cream?"<br /><br />Granted, one might suggest that choosing a career involves matters of fact and judgment when one is trying to make a reasonable choice. In fact, your businessman is probably troubled because choosing an academic career doesn't seem reasonable to him. So you're stuck trying to explain why being an academic is reasonable, which, in way, is itself an unreasonable argument to have to make since there's no real reason to assume that the entire profession of academia is unreasonable. Such an assumption is, itself, unreasonable. <br /><br />So, that takes us back to ice cream. And there's just no way to have a reasonable argument about why one is choosing chocolate ice cream over vanilla. So, you just end up trying to defend chocolate ice cream and your choice of chocolate ice cream.<br /><br />Know what I mean?Good Enough Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531793545583712309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-69043349884202080392009-06-22T22:54:24.582+01:002009-06-22T22:54:24.582+01:00Thank you for all the suggestions. Lots of them ma...Thank you for all the suggestions. Lots of them made me laugh. Thanks team!!! Really appreciate the encouragement too. : )<br /><br />Kate - I think it's exactly what you said: a matter of principle (Stephanie Tanner style) mixed with 'it' (an academic career etc.) being a sore spot for me at the moment. I need to believe this thesis slog is all worthwhile! It doesn't feel nice when people remind me how long it takes to apply for things and how competitive it is. I already know these things! <br /><br />It's not like I haven't heard this sort of stuff for many, many years, but right now I feel entitled to respond in a scrappy way. My powers are weaker than they once were.<br /><br />Keep the suggestions coming...Academic, Hopefulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17474557296107830403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-85781310374583939582009-06-22T21:04:48.537+01:002009-06-22T21:04:48.537+01:00Great post. As a grad student (history) I can empa...Great post. As a grad student (history) I can empathise fully. Faced with that sort of question, my first inclination is usually to respond with something along the lines of 'I value the critical thinking skills I'm developing, which can be applied anywhere' and something on the theme of 'the value of knowledge for its own sake'. But then I'd probably revert to 'none of your @$#%ing business'.Bavardesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10737120234578385755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-73168821613710870292009-06-22T20:38:34.869+01:002009-06-22T20:38:34.869+01:00Tell him you just want to be a more diverting wife...Tell him you just want to be a more diverting wife and mother.Alanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01973688805691969875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-74423403593313828602009-06-22T13:17:28.150+01:002009-06-22T13:17:28.150+01:00I am, perhaps, not the best person to ask. My own...I am, perhaps, not the best person to ask. My own, ratty, pre-submission self tends to shout things like "well, you're aging badly, so TAKE THAT!" which never goes down that well in public. <br /><br />One thing I can never understand is why people make such overt judgments about academics. If someone was studying law (which I used to, too) you are very rarely asked what you're going to do next. For some reason, when people can't pigeonhole you easily, it upsets their own equilibrium. Weird.<br /><br />So an answer to fit your criteria?<br /><br />"It must seem perplexing from the outside. But I'm pursuing something that gives me a sense of deep satisfaction. I'm not exactly sure where I'll end up with it, but I'm ok with that right now."<br /><br />I have tried humour and changing the subject, but I've found downright honesty is ok.<br /><br />The other thing I'd ponder is: what is it about the question that causes you the most anxiety? It is because of the sheer impertinence of asking in the first place? Does it play upon your own fears of uncertain futures? For me it's a bit of both, and probably other undefinable bristles. So I've found it good to sit down with those feelings and see what it is bringing out in me, too. In that way, I try to use the whole nasty experience as good training.<br /><br />And if that fails, stamp your foot, wave your fist and accidentally spill your red wine in their lap.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15210665399158259040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-8088614284766657262009-06-22T07:00:52.987+01:002009-06-22T07:00:52.987+01:00Wow. Your descriptions are so vivid...do you writ...Wow. Your descriptions are so vivid...do you write novels? Because wow, I feel like I was there with you.<br /><br />My answer would be that I love teaching. <br /><br />I don't think I would even try to otherwise explain. Even though the real answer is not that simple...teaching is only one aspect, and sometimes it's frustrating as hell, frankly, and exhausting. But I fear that it's practically impossible to explain the joyful drama of research, the vitality of exchange of ideas in the classroom, and the ongoing passion for the subject matter itself...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5913229899720792807.post-79317401518087963752009-06-22T00:33:54.147+01:002009-06-22T00:33:54.147+01:00...because, as much as I complain, academia gives ......because, as much as I complain, academia gives me freedom.Dr. Nohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18424071536413273557noreply@blogger.com