 November 26, 2014 - 7:15am | Stumbled across this blog post on the tyrany of thought police in science fiction today It feels like Political correctness running wild to me. breif excerpt post here: http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2014/05/science-fiction-and-thought-police.html full post here: http://www.intercollegiatereview.com/index.php/2014/05/07/heinlein-hugos-and-hogwash/ blogger makes the case that Heinlein could not have won a Hugo award today. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 26, 2014 - 7:38am | Collected quotes by authors on banned books and censorship: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/10/sci-fifantasy-authors-sound-off-about-banned-books-and-censorship I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 27, 2014 - 10:19pm | Yes, the "goodthink" people are on patrol. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 November 28, 2014 - 1:42am | This is an interesting article. ----------------------------------------------- |
November 28, 2014 - 2:13am | So just an fyi Centralized "standard" educational curiculium encourage groupthink ----------------------------------------------- |
 November 28, 2014 - 2:50am | So just an fyi Centralized "standard" educational curiculium encourage groupthink If that were the case then everyone in the UK of my generation and others would all think the same. Similarly, those from private education would all be the radical thinkers - but that's also not the case  |
November 28, 2014 - 2:57am | The article does seem a tad overdone. SF as a medium is more than just awards and the social comments outside of books made by SF authors. If anything, SF has nothing to do with such things - they're entirely secondary. But then again, SF will continue to exist regardless. |
November 28, 2014 - 5:08am | I cant speak about education in the UK since even when I was there I attended an American school run by the Department of Defense however I've had some interesting experiences with the Boston public schools from the perspective of a father. I dont think that "group think" is really about producing people who think the same but rather its about control. That since we must come to a group concensus everyone must conform to the accepted opinion. Part of that process from things my stepson has described to me seems to be a ridiculing comment from the authority figure (the teacher) against one position and then she asks the students their position. Naturally they like sheep were all lead to the accepted group position and my stepson bless his soul bucked the system and was the lone dissenting opinion which greatly upset the teacher. It was a great 1984 moment and I was later told he was disruptive to which I told the teacher you asked for him to make a choice of X or Y and he did and that was disruptive? I unfortunately then expressed a minority policitical opinion about liberal philosophies and running rampant in education in America which greatly offending her and in the end I decided to transfer him to a private school for his own sake. It was a good lesson for me about remaining calm but the group think and pod learning and other things I suspected were educational theories are heavily played out in the elementary levels of the public schools, for high school it seems less so but I really feel like they are experimenting with our kids because someone has had a theory and it being implimented without being tested and "OMG, how could you question us on this we're educators and know best?" AS to the article being overblown I'll have to think on that but this is what I do think: He had a hypothesis and he laid out facts supporting that and as he got to his conclusion he began to lay on some sarcasm fairly thick. I dont think his critical tone should overturn his facts if they are reported correctly (I have not confirmed if they are reported correctly or have been shaded to his purpose). However, I also recognize that if someone was naturally inclined to disagree with him they would latch on to the sarcasm and ridicule him there rather than dispute a hard fact. Rule number 1 of the close minded is "If you cant attack the facts on their merits make the attack personal" I think his tone will help the acceptance of the article with certain segments of his audience and the same tone will turn off others but I agree with RKingway that this is and interesting article that does bear thinking on. It also could be cannon fodder for a game back drop. The Clear Thinkers cadre will attack and villify anyone that dares dispute their agenda that mentalist should be registered, controlled and even relocated if they persist in using their powers. PCs employer made a comment that was not really supportive of mentalish but simply that we should not rush to judge in a particular case and the Clear t Thinkers are sharpening the axes for his head in much the smae way as described in the article I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 28, 2014 - 7:50am | Then again, just because one teacher in Boston acts a certain way, that doesn't mean that the same is the case everywhere. Aside from that, as soon as someone leaves education at 15 or 16 years old, they'll find that further and higher education (especially the latter) promote other forms of thinking. Groupthink can only exist if every aspect of education is absolutely controlled and that whoever's directing it will know with 100% certainty that no-one will ever think differently. But, humans being humans, you'd have to be radically alter brains for that to happen. WRT the article, some modern SF would never had won awards if published in the same period as Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers'. Social mores and tastes swing one way or the other and literature has always been subjected to that. SF just tends to have swings into different forms of conservativism from decade to decade. But that doesn't really matter in the long run because all sorts of different SF exists and sells regardless of what award-giving groups and different camps might think. |
November 28, 2014 - 1:43pm | I agree social mores and tastes do change... but... It is important to understand what is culturally happening across the USA right now in education: One it is now unpopular to believe others have freedom of religion or speech if they disagree with something you believe in. This is not how I was raised, but it is what children are being taught in classrooms for over 10 years I have observed, now some of those children are adults. Culturally in the USA people with certain political points of view are more likely to become educators both at a primary level and a college level. This means there is a surprising uniformity of world views that are being taught, in private and public schools and between educational levels. Further because of active social engineering at the government level that punishes teachers for disagreeing or even questioning what the state or fed is trying to do and why, a sort of uniformity is gradually being achieved. Any child or family that does not agree with the propaganda is in for a rough time, as is any educator. (I would give RL examples but that would make the post long.) Our youth are in lower education until about 18 years of age unlike the UK where they are done by 16, that is 2 additional years of education and childhood. I personally believe our educational system is retarding the development of American children to mature adults by holding them so long. This then continues at the college level. The "underwater basket weaving" class joke exists because that is exactly what the majority of the classes are that you are forced to take and waste time and money on in college. There is an ever increasing number of such classes that are required by the college & university systems whose obvious goal is to remake your belief/value system and empty the piggy bank. So 1984 can happen very easily in a classroom and often does... I have come to the conclusion where as you and I read 1984, or Brave New World and thought no thank you very much, other people read the same books and thought what a great plan for a new society. The idea that educated "experts" need to decide other people's futures is being heavily taught in college as the average citizen is too stupid and uneducated per the professors... a lie of course, but the college kids buy it as they think they are the only smart people around. You know it plays on the old song & dance, average old people are not progressive, stuck in their ways, greedy, cold hatred, blah, blah, blah... the kids still eat it up, it appeals to their egos makes them feel special. They also seem to think they are going to all be these future "experts" dictating to all the lesser people every aspect of their lives. They think micromanaging people actually works. So yes I have no doubts the PC witch hunts have reached into the Sci-fi world... I don't know if it has reached super dramatic levels, but I have seen people stalked and lives ruined in other industries of the Arts for not holding a 100% PC point of view. Not really American these witch hunts but very popular now. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 29, 2014 - 3:07am | The US does seem to be made up of more diametrically opposed camps, in terms of how it's society is made up. Maybe that's because it's not a very old social system and is going through the various problems that others (in Europe, for example) went through a long time ago. Religion also seems to play more of a part in things, which isn't the case in the UK and Europe - all of those problems were gotten out of our system long ago. Nationalism in the US also seems a bit weird to outsiders, as does various people not knowing enough about (or chosing to ignore or redefine) the actual Constitution. So in general all of those factors, and others, are going to create a rather unstable system. I don't think things will improve until religion and nationalism become less important, especially in political life. A situation like that in 1984 won't happen. But if it did, the society that has such a system in place is doomed, because it cannot innovate and evolve. I don't think it'll happen in the US. I think the society there just needs to get various things out of its system and mature more, but as it's only existed for 200 years or so I don't think that will happen all that soon. Such things take time. |
November 29, 2014 - 10:22am | One thing my European friends & coworkers from various countries have told me is that there are a lot of stereotypes (not good ones) that Europeans believe about Americans & America that they have found to be untrue once they have lived here, especially about how Americans are. We do have core beliefs that do unify us. I get a lot of political memes from the UK, your political groups argue over all the same stuff we do from what I can tell. Politics are the same everywhere from what I can tell.  "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 29, 2014 - 1:58pm | Well, I've been to the States and two of my ex-girlfriends are Americans so I do have some idea what you're like Yeah, politics here are broadly similar to those elsewhere except that is very little variety. Is not as split down the middle as much as it is in the US. Instead we just have a bunch of ex-public schoolboys winging it and fiddling their expenses  |
