Sunday, October 03, 2010

ISAD13 conference

Judy Kuster has opened the ISAD13 conference. It's a great structure for debate, and everyone can ask questions. It's also interesting for historians to explore how the web experience felt like ten years ago! ;-) But I am all for low-tech. Never break a working system. The unfortunate thing about the conference is the mixed quality of the content and the writers. Some are very good. Others are just bad. And I am not talking about the lay people who stutter. I find their contribution useful and interesting. They are focusing on their experience (mostly that is), and discuss ways to promote stuttering and help people who stutter. The offenders are the clinicians turned researchers. Instead of focusing on their clinical experience, they go off into grandiose research projects. And absolute disaster really. Fuzzy thinking. Confident statements. Committing every possible fallacy.

And what also drives me insane are the "I really enjoyed reading your paper." phrases of the students and others who post questions or comments. I absolutely despise their deference and glorification of authority. And you can literally feel that their intellectual thinking is lethally infected with the social filter, political correctness, and I-need-to-say-something-supportive virus. And where do they get that from? From their teachers. They too are confusing a therapy setting with an intellectual debate. Cut out the bullshit, and get to the point! And no respect for authority! Use your own thinking! Focus on the arguments and not the person!

5 comments:

Perry said...

Tom said "Cut out the bullshit, and get to the point!"

Okay - you are jealous of other successful writers on the ISAD conference, especially as you have not been invited to write there.

Is that to-the-point enough for you?

Now, grow up, and stop trying to bring other people down, and instead, try and bring yourself up to their level.

Tom Weidig said...

Absolutely. Loud and clear.

It's just unfortunate that you are completely wrong! ;-)

You haven't understood my point. An intellectual debate is not about people but about arguments.

Anonymous said...

Tom - Start your own conference and bring in all your "experts" to really (?) answer all the questions about stuttering.

Tim said...

i actually really enjoy your blog and think this is a valuable resource. oh dear but hang on i don't enjoy this entry.. do i dismiss everything you have ever written, and instead argue with what i don't agree with, without showing appreciating your past acts?

I agree that political correctness can be annoying, but then what is wrong with being respectful towards others?

your approach is to 'cut the bullshit' as you put it, but you have not been precise in what you don't agree with, or whom? your just beating around the bush, of naming what you don't agree with, have instead had a little bitch and whine about it.

I like your blog its opiniated, but this one got to me. Be congruent!

Tal said...

It would be cool if you wrote a followup with specific examples of fuzzy thinking and fallacies on the ISAD13 site.