I'm quite a fan of anecdotal evidence. It might not be quantitative, it might not give us a neat data set, but the thought motivating its use seems to have something of value to it:
Wouldn't it be nice if we tried to learn from each other's experiences rather than categorise each other all the time?
And then we wouldn't have to break down half the barriers we do in the first place.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Transcript from Lecture on Wittgenstein (@LSE)
Ray Monk describing Wittgenstein's thoughts on philosophy:
"He said about philosophy that he could only really philosophise with someone with whom he could hold hands...there's a kind of sympathy required so as not to feel that you're constantly being misinterpreted or interpreted uncharitably or whatever it might be, that, you, you feel some kind of sympathy, he even described it one time as a kind of erotic sympathy, you need some kind of empathy, some sort of connexion and its if you publish something, its then very difficult I think, or maybe impossible, to establish that kind of communication that's ideal."
"He said about philosophy that he could only really philosophise with someone with whom he could hold hands...there's a kind of sympathy required so as not to feel that you're constantly being misinterpreted or interpreted uncharitably or whatever it might be, that, you, you feel some kind of sympathy, he even described it one time as a kind of erotic sympathy, you need some kind of empathy, some sort of connexion and its if you publish something, its then very difficult I think, or maybe impossible, to establish that kind of communication that's ideal."
"Mansplaining"
I've noticed a rising number of articles gently probing the problems of sexism within the workplace recently, specifically the academic work place. Many articles, whilst well intentioned, I have found have been either to nervous to take the gloves off and dive right into the fray, or too generalised, lacking in a specificity required to really elucidate the problem for people who are not familiar with the experiences the writers are complaining about.
However a couple of points within a couple of articles have stood out:
(1) Whilst I disagree with some of the conclusions drawn...
...and with the labelling -- I do not need to be labelled a feminist to have concerns about the treatment of women in academia, and such labels can be very unhelpful, I'd much rather just be myself, without labels, a woman with a brain...
there is no question that the first half of this article (& points 1 & 4) hit my repeated experience of basically any numerically male heavy discussion in academia perfectly on the head:
However a couple of points within a couple of articles have stood out:
(1) Whilst I disagree with some of the conclusions drawn...
...and with the labelling -- I do not need to be labelled a feminist to have concerns about the treatment of women in academia, and such labels can be very unhelpful, I'd much rather just be myself, without labels, a woman with a brain...
there is no question that the first half of this article (& points 1 & 4) hit my repeated experience of basically any numerically male heavy discussion in academia perfectly on the head:
(and actually, no, its not just in academia... that's just where it bugs me the most)
(2) This:
"Women are more negatively affected than men by the competitiveness in this stage of an academic career and their concerns about competitiveness are fuelled, they say, by a relative lack of self-confidence.
Women more than men see great sacrifice as a prerequisite for success in academia. This comes in part from their perception of women who have succeeded, from the nature of the available role models. Successful female professors are perceived by female PhD candidates as displaying masculine characteristics, such as aggression and competitiveness, and they were often childless."
(2) This:
"Women are more negatively affected than men by the competitiveness in this stage of an academic career and their concerns about competitiveness are fuelled, they say, by a relative lack of self-confidence.
Women more than men see great sacrifice as a prerequisite for success in academia. This comes in part from their perception of women who have succeeded, from the nature of the available role models. Successful female professors are perceived by female PhD candidates as displaying masculine characteristics, such as aggression and competitiveness, and they were often childless."
3 fantastically accurate and oft overlooked points - particularly the last one can be a thorny subject to approach.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
the road
Engaged in life.
There is a complex sky.
The light is coming from behind me, its reflecting off an aeroplane in such a way that it looks like a comic or perhaps a 1950s commercial but the surroundings are touched by illumination in a different way.
Perhaps the light as illumination metaphor goes further than upon first glance; the light shows that which it falls upon for what it is - but it shows it so that we can see it, without strain or confusion.
Natural warmth resonates through the reddish bush surrounding the gravel ugliness that is an ill-maintained road. The road is unkempt, yet distinctive in its unnatural feel. It exudes man-made. The plane on the other hand feels as if it were made by some other entity, perhaps even more unnatural than ourselves... our future selves perhaps. For now it is high above us, beyond our reach.
The road rises up before the viewer, claustrophobic against the expansive sky - a sky which wants to dominate the scene but is forced into its own area by the business of men.
The plane banks forward and to the right, mimicking the clouds it stands against, mockingly gleaming against the natural subtlety of the sky.
I feel my smallness, as if the whole visual field is being sucked toward me, being ever increasingly compacted, until my own form emerges as the apex of the whole world. Or whatever the opposite of that is, for my point of being feels like the very antithesis of the pinnacle, and all around me is the majesty of size.
Romanticism wins: it is a scene out of North America. Pragmatism rejoins: its a day of sunny relief in a backwater overtaken by roads and rage in obsolete England.
Snapped back to the banality of life.
There is a complex sky.
The light is coming from behind me, its reflecting off an aeroplane in such a way that it looks like a comic or perhaps a 1950s commercial but the surroundings are touched by illumination in a different way.
Perhaps the light as illumination metaphor goes further than upon first glance; the light shows that which it falls upon for what it is - but it shows it so that we can see it, without strain or confusion.
Natural warmth resonates through the reddish bush surrounding the gravel ugliness that is an ill-maintained road. The road is unkempt, yet distinctive in its unnatural feel. It exudes man-made. The plane on the other hand feels as if it were made by some other entity, perhaps even more unnatural than ourselves... our future selves perhaps. For now it is high above us, beyond our reach.
The road rises up before the viewer, claustrophobic against the expansive sky - a sky which wants to dominate the scene but is forced into its own area by the business of men.
The plane banks forward and to the right, mimicking the clouds it stands against, mockingly gleaming against the natural subtlety of the sky.
I feel my smallness, as if the whole visual field is being sucked toward me, being ever increasingly compacted, until my own form emerges as the apex of the whole world. Or whatever the opposite of that is, for my point of being feels like the very antithesis of the pinnacle, and all around me is the majesty of size.
Romanticism wins: it is a scene out of North America. Pragmatism rejoins: its a day of sunny relief in a backwater overtaken by roads and rage in obsolete England.
Snapped back to the banality of life.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Section from a painting I am currently working on
please ignore poor picture quality (phone camera...) and unfinished state.
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