Wednesday, May 16, 2007
(3:34 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Academic Blogging Paranoia
Academic bloggers, particularly graduate students and assistant professors, often display a significant level of paranoia about the possible effects of blogging on their careers. Yet it seems to me that even more than any particular opinion that would be expressed on blogs, the very paranoia itself is a potential offense. Doesn't the paranoia buy into the stereotypes of academics as petty and vindictive people, ready to ruin careers at the slightest provocation? Do potential employers really want to hire someone who thinks that way about their potential colleagues? Does the profession really need members who implicitly fear or even hate most of the established members of the profession? Or worse, who hate themselves due to having internalized stereotypes that feed into anti-intellectualism?The overwhelming majority of academics I've met are good people who are doing their best and who try to be as generous as possible. Have I just hit an unrepresentative patch? Are most academics actually bad people? I'd prefer to think not.
