Candelestine

I don't know if they are or are not inviting foreigners. However, I do know that inviting them and allowing them full access to the station would put national security concerns to rest.

I was talking about American antarctic stations, not all American research sites. Though I'm now curious what the reasoning was for the ISS kick.

Speaking generally, using those two as very clear examples of a broader principle pertaining to all education and how it potentially intersects with ideology.

A great deal of modern study has been done on racism though, and how accurate it really is. The idea that racist attitudes are grounded in reality that gets suppressed is a standard conservative talking point. A quick google scholar search should reveal an avalanche of work dating back well over half a century that disproves this, though, much like with global warming.

No, afaik I did not have any outright crackpot instructors, though I definitely had some with racist attitudes on occasion.

Where does this association that all things bad and colonialism must always be one-in-the-same? If it's not colonialism, it must not be bad. If it's not bad, it must not be colonialism.

Regardless, the solution to the problem is fairly simple. The American stations, at least, are somewhat multinational, people from all over can go there. Perhaps they could invite foreigners to do work as well?

Debate should not be stifled. Outright bullshit should be.

For instance, if someone wanted to argue that carbon dioxide does not contribute to global warming based on the current evidence, they should be reprimanded for being a crackpot, and cherry picking in support of their ideology.

If they wanted to conduct a study on whether or not carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, that would be fine. If they make any "accidental" mistakes in their study, however, they should not be upset when that gets revealed when others examine their work.

Or, take a lot of standard racist attitudes. If someone wants to make various racist arguments based on the pseudoscience of the German Nazi Party, they should be reprimanded for being a crackpot. If they wanted to replicate any serious studies of the matter (many of which were done in the ensuing decades), done with the appropriate strictness and rigor, or even devise their own, that would be fine. Again, however, if they try to twist the results to match their own ideological preferences, they should not be surprised if that gets revealed when others examine their work.

Lastly, the author of the article talking about "truth" makes my skin crawl. That's a faith word. Truths belong in holy books. Education should be based on evidence. "Truth" should absolutely be banned in colleges, because truth is fundamentally unknowable. Unless you think Jesus should be the foundation of schooling or something. All we humans get is steadily improving understanding, always changing, always pursuing the truth, but never being arrogant enough to think we have actually fully arrived.

While yes, what he said was probably pretty dumb, what kind of escalatory ladder can Putin climb? He's already threatening to nuke everyone every other week. Doubt this, which he probably already knew, is going to be what makes him do it.

Yeah, keep wishing for it. Just don't question why the gigantic country with the huge military, boundless natural resources and established war industry has barely made any progress in two years, against a neighbor a fraction of their size.

Even spent a good amount of the time that first year going backwards. After a fucking surprise attack, even.

You did get me a little riled up a few posts ago. The switch to rationality vs irrationality was a good one. lol

That's uh ... basically a playbook for implementing Orwell's 1984. About 40 years late I guess?

You seem to have a proclivity for making sweeping generalizations and overarching statements. You're not actually the God-King of the Universe, though, fyi. Regardless, I apologize for not meeting your standards for explaining my own anecdotal experiences.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about this photoshop that makes it utterly amazing. Might be the hat.

I suppose they could try to send more troops, but there's kinda a hostile country in the way.

Hey, I know, they could ship troops through the Black Sea! I'm sure nothing would go wrong with that.

I really hope this doesn't start an actual cult. People don't need much in the way of an excuse, you know.