Thank you for this! I wrote a guide for Civil Society Field Hearings based on lessons and reforms in the House. Voice, public record and deliberation are functions we can move to the states. Heres the link. https://constitutionaldefense.us/
Bingo. I am reminded these days, again and again, of the middle of the night exchange (reported in Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" in a Normandy hedgerow, between an un-nerved private and a zen-like lieutenant gathering up stray paratroopers: "We're all scared, Blithe... you're scared because you still have hope that you're going to get out of this thing. But Blithe, we were all dead men the minute we stepped into those planes. And the sooner you understand that, the sooner you can do your job..."
At the micro-level, I'm seeing the same dilemma play out in the church to which I've attended for ten-some years: shrinking attendance, shrinking revenues, shrinking demographics has led some who've assumed leadership voices based on their societal position, completely denying what's happening, and relying on magic thinking (it's always worked for them in the past, on the personal and community level), INSTEAD OF
accepting that this moment is a defining one, and pretending / hoping & wishing / and operating in the denial that personal wealth and standing have allowed them to skate on ever-thinning river ice.
I'm hoping that a lot of these university leaders, and a lot of other leaders, too, recognize that 'we were all dead men the minute we stepped into those planes', and are willing to not make deals with these puny tempters and adversaries 'going to and fro upon the earth, and up and down upon it.'
Rather, just saying, "I'd prefer not to", and being willing to employ the first move of any jiu jitsu master in being put upon by a puffed-up bully. And then the second move...
Thanks very much for this analysis, Mr. Farrell.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from Lock 15.
* and remember, Every day computers are making people easier to use! Progress, Our Most Important Product! /s :/
Interesting. I am wondering whether also sth else, but possibly related, is going on.
Take a look at https://www.math.inc/gauss which promises to be able to replace even high end research mathematicians.
"Currently, it ... requires high-level expert guidance ... We anticipate future iterations of Gauss to be more capable and autonomous."
But as opposed to other advances in algorithms-and-AI assisted mathematics, this product is not open source and kept out of reach of the wider community. It even seems unclear who owns this company.
So my question would be the following. Is part of the plan they have for universities to replace them with private research institutions which have exclusive access to privately owned AI to which only a few selected compliant researchers have access?
PLEASE find time on October 18 to show up at a No Kings gathering. Encourage others to be there. Post photos (the signs will be fun!). Here's how to know where your nearest is:
Yes, it’s a good insight that by selecting only a few universities, Trump is trying to turn the decision into a prisoner’s dilemma. But in a classic prisoner’s dilemma situation the prisoners have no way to communicate with each other and coordinate their decisions. This is not true of university presidents who talk to each other all the time.
Thank you, Henry, for responding to so many people in the NYT comments section. Please thank the editors for publishing you and allowing the comments. The conversation is so necessary.
Internally divided question: “it has moved from targeting universities one by one, in an effort to get them to agree to bespoke conditions, to targeting a group of universities that it suspects to be more internally divided…” Internally divided as in Dartmouth College vs those colleges that have opposed the attacks on Harvard, etc.? Or is a college like Dartmouth divided internally with its president being on the conciliatory side, even if “fiercely independent” from other colleges?
"There is a lot of safety in numbers, because the regime is not going to be able to punish everyone".
This is a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide NoKings rally is Saturday, October 18. Be there or be square!
We need 3.5% of the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
Thank you for this! I wrote a guide for Civil Society Field Hearings based on lessons and reforms in the House. Voice, public record and deliberation are functions we can move to the states. Heres the link. https://constitutionaldefense.us/
Bingo. I am reminded these days, again and again, of the middle of the night exchange (reported in Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" in a Normandy hedgerow, between an un-nerved private and a zen-like lieutenant gathering up stray paratroopers: "We're all scared, Blithe... you're scared because you still have hope that you're going to get out of this thing. But Blithe, we were all dead men the minute we stepped into those planes. And the sooner you understand that, the sooner you can do your job..."
At the micro-level, I'm seeing the same dilemma play out in the church to which I've attended for ten-some years: shrinking attendance, shrinking revenues, shrinking demographics has led some who've assumed leadership voices based on their societal position, completely denying what's happening, and relying on magic thinking (it's always worked for them in the past, on the personal and community level), INSTEAD OF
accepting that this moment is a defining one, and pretending / hoping & wishing / and operating in the denial that personal wealth and standing have allowed them to skate on ever-thinning river ice.
I'm hoping that a lot of these university leaders, and a lot of other leaders, too, recognize that 'we were all dead men the minute we stepped into those planes', and are willing to not make deals with these puny tempters and adversaries 'going to and fro upon the earth, and up and down upon it.'
Rather, just saying, "I'd prefer not to", and being willing to employ the first move of any jiu jitsu master in being put upon by a puffed-up bully. And then the second move...
Thanks very much for this analysis, Mr. Farrell.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from Lock 15.
* and remember, Every day computers are making people easier to use! Progress, Our Most Important Product! /s :/
Interesting. I am wondering whether also sth else, but possibly related, is going on.
Take a look at https://www.math.inc/gauss which promises to be able to replace even high end research mathematicians.
"Currently, it ... requires high-level expert guidance ... We anticipate future iterations of Gauss to be more capable and autonomous."
But as opposed to other advances in algorithms-and-AI assisted mathematics, this product is not open source and kept out of reach of the wider community. It even seems unclear who owns this company.
So my question would be the following. Is part of the plan they have for universities to replace them with private research institutions which have exclusive access to privately owned AI to which only a few selected compliant researchers have access?
PLEASE find time on October 18 to show up at a No Kings gathering. Encourage others to be there. Post photos (the signs will be fun!). Here's how to know where your nearest is:
https://www.nokings.org/#map
Yes, it’s a good insight that by selecting only a few universities, Trump is trying to turn the decision into a prisoner’s dilemma. But in a classic prisoner’s dilemma situation the prisoners have no way to communicate with each other and coordinate their decisions. This is not true of university presidents who talk to each other all the time.
Thank you, Henry, for responding to so many people in the NYT comments section. Please thank the editors for publishing you and allowing the comments. The conversation is so necessary.
This is great. I totally agree. Thank you for articulating this here and in the NYT.
Sir, I bring to your attention that this Administration is also attacking U.S. academia through the independent accreditation process. I have written about it (and personally experienced it myself, having had a published article censored by the Feds, from a Fed funded university) over at Medium - here's a free look: https://medium.com/policy-panorama/the-threats-from-u-s-academic-accreditations-capitulation-to-trump-s-demands-c37bc0bb54aa?sk=4667a8acf9ffc8a16d447b2ffc0cf489 and I referenced/cited your NYT op-ed today. Thanks, Mike Prasad.
Internally divided question: “it has moved from targeting universities one by one, in an effort to get them to agree to bespoke conditions, to targeting a group of universities that it suspects to be more internally divided…” Internally divided as in Dartmouth College vs those colleges that have opposed the attacks on Harvard, etc.? Or is a college like Dartmouth divided internally with its president being on the conciliatory side, even if “fiercely independent” from other colleges?
"There is a lot of safety in numbers, because the regime is not going to be able to punish everyone".
This is a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide NoKings rally is Saturday, October 18. Be there or be square!
We need 3.5% of the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
https://www.nokings.org/