Science Memes

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Academic Rizzlers (mander.xyz)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What if language evolves to where the consensus opinion is to gatekeep silliness out of academia though? Evolution cuts both ways, English could theoretically evolve into a fully prescriptivized language like French, and that's just as valid an evolution.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

That certainly could happen. It doesn't seem very likely though, especially since so many different cultures already have their own versions of English, and the main two rarely agree on anything.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I mean, it seems like that's the cultural push-and-pull depicted here: Some people don't like it and make that known. If their opinion ends up prevailing and papers containing silliness end up being rejected by the major journals of their field, doctoral comittees etc., eventually the silliness may be driven out and gatekept.

We fans of harmless humour would lament as much as the guy in the OP laments now. We would presumably attempt to encourage silliness, as the guy in the OP does now.

Consensus swinging one way naturally doesn't magically mean we now have to change our opinions to fit the consensus. Right now, language evolves in our favour, and we will attempt to support and leverage that evolution because it suits us.