I’m a pretty positive person. I generally enjoy philosophy and academia and I’m hopeful in a lot of cases when my friends are not. I also believe in always having a positive account in my research. So this post really isn’t about pessimism and “burning it all down”, even though it might read a bit…
Inexpert Reactions: “American Nations” and Insurrection
Hey, it’s been a while! Now that I’ve defended my dissertation and gotten through most of this year’s job applications, I figured I’d dip my toes back into blogging with some book “reviews.” (Like Kino–in fact, inspired by Kino–I listen to a lot of audiobooks when I’m not working, so I “read” a lot.) Note…
Advice and causation
“When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.” — apparently from How I Met Your Mother, which I’ve never watched. — but I have played League of Legends and heard this from Rakan. In the a post on luck and hard work, I talked about how I’ve been thinking…
On luck and hard work
I recently came across an event where a successful woman shares her stories and strategies for being successful. I don’t usually seek out success books, but they are difficult to avoid. Consequently, I have encountered most of what this woman has said, including how “if you help others; they will help you in return” and…
Great books | how to understand others’ pain
I finally got around to reading Educated. It was recommended to me by multiple people I trust, but I kept putting it off because it looked very intense. And, geez, the book is intense! I listened to it on Audible. It’s beautifully written, but very, very intense. The journey the book took me on was…
Learning to talk
Earlier today, during my Twitter procrastination from writing a proposal, I saw this call for response from the organization Minority and Philosophy (MAP), which is a student-run international nonprofit aimed at advocating for diversity and inclusion within academic philosophy: Did experiences with epistemic injustice as a student impact your teaching philosophy? We want to know…
What you need is not love
I’m in that awkward career stage where, on the one hand, I’m a senior grad student whom people go to for emotional (and sometimes logistical) support when things don’t work out the way they should, usually related to something a faculty member has done or didn’t do; on the other hand, I’m on the market,…
My proudly average movement
Abe is 6 years old. Most kids in his grade 1 class can count to 20 but Abe cannot. Therefore Abe will never go to law school because law schools only want top students. Alex is 18 years old. They tried their hand at driving a couple times and almost hit a tree. Therefore Alex…
You can’t think yourself into confidence
“You have to stop looking for external validation or else you’ll never truly be happy.” That’s something I hear a lot. I’m always a little bit confused by it, because it contradicts every bit of my experience. But it does sound like the right kind of thing to say, and I can’t deny the possibility…
Troubleshooting is off-CV DEI work
Diversity statements are becoming common in job searches. Contrary to what you might think, I actually like these statements, in much of the same way as I believe in the value of forcing people to pitch valuable research (aka grant writing). I don’t know how seriously diversity statements are taken — probably somewhere between what…