tag:blog.phds.org,2010:/2010/1/18/assumptions/comments Mephisto Noh-Varr 2010-02-01T12:45:14Z Geoff Davis tag:blog.phds.org,2010-01-18:954:956 2010-01-18T23:43:00Z 2010-01-18T23:43:00Z <p>Thanks, Curt - I'm glad you like the blog!</p> <p>I don't know the history very well, but given that not much of anything happens quickly in academia, I imagine that the review's characterization of a gradual becoming is correct. My read is that the foundations for the current system were laid back in the 19th century, but the current state of affairs probably took awhile to evolve in response.</p> Curt F. tag:blog.phds.org,2010-01-18:954:955 2010-01-18T21:14:27Z 2010-01-18T21:14:27Z <p>"<em>Professors, the people most visibly responsible for the creation of new ideas, have, over the last century, become all too consummate professionals, initiates in a system committed to its own protection and perpetuation.</em>"</p> <p>It sounds like your bottom line, then, is that the review on Slate is wrong here. I.e., you are saying that there was no "becoming" that was spread out over all of last century, but rather that the change happened all at once and was engineered in to the system from the beginning?</p> <p>BTW, it's awesome to see you posting again. I love the blog.</p>