Academic discourse

Gil Hardwick (gil@landmark.DIALix.oz.au)
Sat, 14 Jan 1995 06:53:03 GMT

While I am thinking about it (again), Gregg, I must say I find it
fascinating that you now cry "academic discourse" as the purpose of
sci.anthropology.

On a number of occasions over the past few years I have endeavoured to
pursue just that. The outcome appears to come under three main types
of rejoinder:

1. The insistence from your end that your ideas are universal, and
that field evidence to the contrary is simply inadmissable except
under the rubric "flame war" for which I get a stream of abusive
e-mail for being "rude". For which I get kicked off ANTHRO-L under a
"flood of complaints" for my "shenanigans".

2. The sheer absence of field experience at all at your end, for
which at my insistence that it is necessary in anthropology I get
yet another stream of abusive e-mail for being a "bully". Sorry, a
phone call to an outstation is NOT GOOD ENOUGH to qualify as field
data, and neither is this hysterical pretense that we have at hand
direct evidence that humans did in fact evolve in the Savannah and
anything else is just a feminist conspiracy..

3. The fact that when I simply decide to await a topic to be proposed
from your end, it turns out that your people don't even bother to have
read the material before launching their know-it-all opinions on the
topic, for which I get more abusive e-mail yet again because it is now
determined that I "need help". Rather you send computer programmers
and philosophy students complaining that the material was written by
foreigners anyway.

I simply don't care any more about it. My conclusion is that, as I
must confess I HAD been warned at University about anthropologists,
you are all up yourselves. You somehow manage to gain tenure at a
University somewhere giving you free rein to sit astride your moral
high horse sending out abuse to all and sundry on ANY pretext, and
NEVER AT ANY POINT DEMONSTRATE mastery of your subject.

No field work experience. Not even bothering to get a grip on the
fundamental thought underlying anthropological discourse. Just WE
KNOW RIGHT AND WE ALL AMURKUN SO WE DON'T HAVE TO GIVE A SHIT NOHOW!

Everybody else in the world is JUST WRONG WRONG WRONG, and if any of
them dare give us any lip why we all just send our lawyers after
them. Serving writs to right around the other side of the planet if
necessary, then a further 2,500 Km right across the Western Desert of
Australia, COS WE GOT THE POWER TO DO IT.

Excuse me, Gregg, y'all make me want to puke my guts up.


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