Tuesday, April 01, 2008

no inner life

UPDATE to the below: there's lots of interestingly theorized quantitative research! but some isn't. and i haven't made it this far by making people feel good. come on! wait. oh.
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a friend of mine who went to a particular ivy league school has described people who go to a rival ivy league school as having no inner life.  (forgive me, friend, if you're reading and i've got this wrong or phrased incorrectly.)

you know who else has no inner life?  academics in the humanities who do strictly quantitative research.  beginning with the presumption that one chooses a graduate program and strain of research at least in part because you like it, and feel some sense of gratification pursuing your curiosity in that manner, i just can't imagine the obligatory sense of devotion to your work that makes you want to count things and then call that important.  do i happen to know and dislike anyone who has devoted their own life to quantitative research and also who has no sense of humor or sense of him (or her!) self outside of bitter zero-sum resentment?  why yes, i do!

you know who has enough inner life to spare?  dolly parton, whose songs are featured on tonight's american idol much to my embarrassingly intense delight.  and speaking of american idol?  i am in love with michael johns and also ugly cocky carly smithson.  and am SO OVER jason castro and his cutey-pie-ness.  he gives inner life a bad name.

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