1. Crucifixion 'makes God into a psychopath'

Comment #30158 by Scifinerdgrl on April 7, 2007 at 5:20 am

I have wondered about this in the context of the analogy of the "good" or "loving" father. What parent would scapegoat his only good kid as a substitute for the rest, who are brats?

2. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29544 by Scifinerdgrl on April 3, 2007 at 11:00 am

My understanding of post-modernism is that it privileges the subjective because everything is subjective and nobody's view is more or less valid than anyone else's. My belief that gravity holds me to the earth is no more valid than that of someone who credits invisible puppet-strings.

Of course, you may disagree. Definitions of post-modernism are like certain body parts. Everyone has one and all of them stink.

3. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29098 by Scifinerdgrl on April 1, 2007 at 3:50 pm

I'm am happily forever A.B.D. in my field because of the postmodernist takeover of its prestigious journals and conferences. In order to get published or get heard you have to toe this ridiculous line. Even though it's a humanities field, apparently a complete misunderstanding of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a requisite for a Ph.D. Yes, children. Because physicists are uncertain about something we must all acknowledge that all half-baked opinions are equal to all *educated* opinions because nobody is sure of anything and all observation is relative. Research is futile. Why take a sabbatical, pay plane fare, and then suffer for hours on end in a stodgy European library when you can skim through a translation of a few texts, suggest the author may have been homosexual (and even if he wasn't, he wanted to be) and get published? Even though I managed to find a niche that was somewhat less insane, any job I could have wanted (and I did have a good starter job) would have depended on a faculty committee's approval for continuation... and the committees are now stuffed with 1) total nitwits who write this stuff and 2) total nitwits who think the nitwits who write this incomprehensible trash are brilliant. I left academia, doubled my salary, and never looked back. But this essay brings back memories. Thanks for making my Monday morning commute a little cheerier tomorrow.