No more FREE SPEECH at UCT? | David Benatar
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
- Academic freedom and freedom of expression at the University of Cape Town are under threat. David Ansara of the CRA speaks to Prof. David Benatar of the UCT Philosophy Department about the university's hostility towards dissenting ideas.
WATCH the full interview with Prof. David Benatar (48 mins) on the 'Solutions With David Ansara' podcast: • David Benatar on the f...
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David Goldblatt was going to leave his archive to UCT and then, when it did not defend the rights of artists and allowed mobs to destroy works and not be held to account, he decided not to do so.
I always thought people who went to academia wanted to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world around them. That people who stay in academia are people that want to push the limits of understanding and knowledge. That together, the world would become a better place. The reality of my experience in academia is the opposite, people regurgitate, never question their lecturers or the points stressed in the human sciences. The engineering disciplines do not suffer to the degree that human sciences does but they suffer in their own way. People and academia use their tertiary education to further themselves but only within their personal sphere. The testing of certain hypothesis are never completed as there is no funds or are not acceptable to the managers who have forgotten that you have to question everything you hear or read. Look at the failures within the psychology and economics fields to understand that regurgitation is the death knell of expanding knowledge. Furthermore, the failure to understand the subject matter and question it's basis or foundation allows one to create new a hypothesis. They indicate that 'critical thinking' is a requirement but they them strangle or limit the outcomes.
100% correct.
This topic is exactly why I didn't want to do my research studies in SA. It's become too left wing in every department in the university and there is no more freedom of thought, it's either you fall in line or you are wrong, no questioning of concepts or philosophical debate, just populism of the loudest voices.
@Ošklivý Bogdanov In current form I agree. It was never meant to be like this, universities were meant for the furthering of the pool of knowledge. Just such a shame that the humanities have mutilated the rest of the university, even the sciences have been infected with this vile dogma. The problem is even if we tried to fix it now, it will still take a generation for new minds to come in, frankly I believe universities are setting themselves up for future replacement with the rapid adoption of e-learning.
@Ošklivý Bogdanov I agree to some extent, where I differ is with the STEM degrees they aren't meaningless and in fact the current curriculum for comp sci/physics etc is significantly more difficult than 1-2 decades ago. Where I agree fully is the humanities degrees which are utterly useless in the current day. These people should rather pursue trade work or skip university entirely and save the money they spent and put it as a deposit rather for their house.
@Ošklivý Bogdanov Well think like this, students get degrees but they have to understand that eventually they will have to work with said "degrees" in corporate where there is no space for crying at the lecturer, they either just get fired or get alienated by the team and quit. This is from 12 years IT experience... someone has to do the job eventually.
I didn't have the same experience as you claim as I achieved all my degrees thus far with cum laude in computer science, but I can comment on the fact of how many dropped out because they couldn't make the grade, especially in difficult subjects like a machine learning or mathematics or statistics. I remember being the one of 5 who wrote exam when the starting class was 250. At least beyond bachelors the lecturers are still somewhat stringent with marking in STEM field.
@@MrZog-yv3be I am not just referring to UCT, I am referring to most of the Universities in SA.
@Ošklivý Bogdanov It is like that in a lot of first world nations as well. Black students do get preferential treatment on acceptance into uni and also get a helping hand with marks. Only way I got into uni was having to give the uni no excuse to not let me in, like top grades, early submission, extra achievements, speak directly to the dean etc. All of these things meant that there was no other choice but to let me in as they would have no excuses as comeback to say no. But I have heard horror stories of people getting denied even though they achieved 80-90% and still not get accepted. Same for post grad and masters studies.
But none of this bothers me as much anymore as I know eventually those who have received preference will have to pay the price and that generally occurs in the workplace where they aren't promoted to senior technical positions as they just do not cut it.
A once great university. Now almost reduced to junk status. So far left that it has become a damn joke 😒
All SA universities have been reduced to junk. UCT used to be in the top 100 worldwide. They have paled into insignificance. UNISA, which is one of my alumni, cannot find my full academic record! It's a shame and a disgrace.
I was raised to think and say "I disagree, but will defend your right to your opinion, to the death, if needs be."
@Quote Here's a hypothetical answer
@Quote If someone say "Let's hurt your wife", that is not an opinion but an incitement to violence.
Yo David, big fan of your short segments
I would suggest moving the CRA ad to the middle of the video and at the end you can promote your podcast
Keep up the good work guys, CRA part of my info breakfast along with Morning Shot
Also some humour helps but I understand the professional capacity in which it must be presented
The intellectual atmosphere at UCT seems eerily similar to that in the USSR.
I graduated from Rhodes 20 years ago and then did my post grad at WITS and if we're going to be honest academia back then was already incredibly left leaning. This is not a new phenomenon it's been a gradual decline over generations.
@Ošklivý Bogdanov Exactly. If I had dared to question "the message" there is no way I would have left with a degree. So people shouldn't be shocked that we've ended up in the current situation. There hasn't been open debate at universities for a very long time.
WATCH the full interview with Prof. David Benatar (48 mins) on the 'Solutions With David Ansara' podcast: ruclips.net/video/Tf-qjuaT8uI/видео.html
"There's a value even in hearing false views because when the truth rubs up against false views, you can actually renew your conviction in the truth because you know it's been tested against alternative views."
I wish that this sentiment was applicable in today's world where there are some who are of a notion that objective truth is fundamentally a social construction of power structures whose sole purpose is to dominate those who have less influence or power.
And so another beautifully enriching "culture" is lost.
In all my years of education, I always encouraged my kids to attend some form of tertiary institution. The reason has always been - it enriches your life, your heart and your mind in many more ways than simple academics/trade training. This is where you discover that people are different. That the world is filled with beautiful minds who differ from yourself. This is where you break the mould.
Now even that is taken away!
Tertiary institutions are quickly becoming obsolete with the rise of the vast knowledge avaliable online, for free at that!
You can learn all you'll ever need, but unfortunately you don't get the piece of paper you need to prove that to a potential employer.
The sickness that is spreading through these institutions are doing a wonderful job of chasing level headed peoples away to find other avenues of education.
I myself attend a small independent Tvet college in the Eastern Cape. We get three months to understand a years work , there isn't time to worry about who is micro agressing who.
The students are of the mindset that 'Im here to upskill and leave' , others are still very young in thier social development but are quickly made to realise that there isn't a holding hand anymore.
Science and Academia have been captured by a cult of thought... They used to teach kids in Nursery School "Sticks & Stones can break my bones but words can never harm me" Now days people leaving University STILL don't understand this. . . It would seem that good times have created weak men!!!
Parents stop supporting these institutions
Is there a record of a university that was truly apolitical?
UCT has lost common sense, Q is who owns this institution?
These tertiary institutions of "higher learning" exist in name only. The future of education is remote auto-didactism and these institutions are now anachronistic. They have been so for some time, but CV19 has brought into sharp focus the value of an 'education' from these institutions. The future of tertiary education is one of specialist institutions, such as engineering and medical schools, most of which will not be physical in nature. The idea of presence equating to productivity is anachronistic and the future belongs to those mature enough to work independently, managed by those mature enough to be able to manage this distant output.
Seems they and Wits have similar political tendencies. Although Wits seems to be slightly less imbecilic (for now).
not surprising ... a while back 'Louder with Crowder' did a 'Change my mind' episode at a American university. In his discussion with a LGBT (whatever) student, the student made it quite clear that people not wishing to use their desired pronouns was instigating violence towards them. I think Steven made the point that this violence was not physical, but the student was adamant that it constituted an equivalent to physical violence. So you can see where these concepts have come from and how it is spreading.
I think your view is reductionist and undermines the redress efforts that these universities are undertaking to undo the very biases that sparked the academic excellence movement. I appreciate the oppressive nature of universities but it is not only a centre for creating new ideas but for correcting old ones hence the have a curatorial role in the spread of ideas, something that isn't sustainable but is currently necessary, due to divisions in the country.
*Academic freedom
The problem with David is that he is more of a racial politician than a philosopher. In other words he applies philosophy to his rigid unshakeable believe in racism and racial superiority. In doing that those who are sheep are swept off their feet; deceived