Will it result in more ideological diversity within the academy? It is not likely to make a change in the ideological composition of the professoriate, at least in the short term. Even though the academy has long tended toward the left and the "progressive," it is much less diverse ideologically today than it was 50 years ago. Such a trend is very hard to reverse. Wingnuts have gotten the message that they are not welcome, and act accordingly. Progs will still tend to exclude a wingnut who is "not one of us," ostensibly because the wingnut is not thinking straight or has expressed evil thoughts.
Haidt's work could well have an influence on some of the dogfights within the academy, where it could give courage to those who object to the increasing restrictions on free speech and conduct within the academy.
Both inside and outside the academy, many will be less likely to accept the latest "scientific study" from the social "sciences." Perhaps I am overly optimistic.
State legislatures cut funding in response to the far left campus agitation of the 1960s. Perhaps Haidt's research will encourage some legislatures to cut funding for some of the more egregious examples of prog imposition run amuck in the academy. Perhaps...
The summary is excellent. But will it matter?
ReplyDeleteWill it result in more ideological diversity within the academy? It is not likely to make a change in the ideological composition of the professoriate, at least in the short term. Even though the academy has long tended toward the left and the "progressive," it is much less diverse ideologically today than it was 50 years ago.
Such a trend is very hard to reverse. Wingnuts have gotten the message that they are not welcome, and act accordingly. Progs will still tend to exclude a wingnut who is "not one of us," ostensibly because the wingnut is not thinking straight or has expressed evil thoughts.
Haidt's work could well have an influence on some of the dogfights within the academy, where it could give courage to those who object to the increasing restrictions on free speech and conduct within the academy.
Both inside and outside the academy, many will be less likely to accept the latest "scientific study" from the social "sciences." Perhaps I am overly optimistic.
State legislatures cut funding in response to the far left campus agitation of the 1960s. Perhaps Haidt's research will encourage some legislatures to cut funding for some of the more egregious examples of prog imposition run amuck in the academy. Perhaps...