Thoughts and prayers

By GeoKid - 18/03/2013 03:09 - Canada

Today, after six months of writing a 40 page paper criticizing a famous method, I found out the professor who conceived it has transferred to my favorite college to head the department I'm applying to study in. They require I submit the paper with my application. FML
I agree, your life sucks 37 175
You deserved it 4 941

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Awww. Maybe he'll appreciate that you actually studied him and made an effort :)

audreyfml1994 15

I'm sure he'll enjoy a good challenge. What's the point of knowledge if not to be challenged?

Comments

Kallian_fml 21

I once wrote an essay for religious education that compared Jesus to a toilet. My incredibly religious teacher obviously went ape shit and failed me. So I showed the paper to her boss. He agreed it was a well written essay and made her change my grade to an A. What I'm trying to say is, if this teacher refuses your application because he has a personal problem with you or what you've written, he's very unprofessional. Surely you could talk to his superior about it?

Takes a fuckton of shit to wash away our sins?

caysters 12

I got lucky enough to have an agnostic teacher when I wrote my paper outlining how Catholicism, and through that, all Christianity, is based off of many different pagan belief systems. I don't know how that would have gone over with a hugely religious teacher... Lol.

scarface90 8

Question..Why take a religion education class and then write a insulting essay about Jesus? I understand freedom of speech but I also understand common sense...For example: you don't walk into a black neighborhood with a t-shirt that says "I hate N!@&" and expect everyone to accept it

Kallian_fml 21

76- I wasn't in that class by choice, it was only 9th grade. I was actually kind of hoping to get kicked out of the class.

I'm thinking he is smart enough to understand people have different ideas and opinions. But he could also be a complete asshole.

So? My head of department always gave me the highest marks for ripping him apart in my papers. It's academia, kiddo. We tend to prefer discourse.

My dissertation tutor and I always clash on opinions of various things. The whole point of being scholastic is to expect criticism, it doesn't mean I'm failing just because I don't agree with him.

Hope your criticism was constructive.

billyw02 5

I completely agree with most of the former commenters. It's lucky that you can talk to him and have a personal conversation about Hy you disagree with his methods. A good scientist will have a well known method. A great scientist would challenge his own method, and appreciate the input for other scientist.

Challenging the status quo is what keeps us moving forward. Intelligent people are always open to new ideas, even if they oppose their own. Imagine if we all still believes the earth was flat! Innovators challenge old ideas. Dummies believe everything they are told. I think you'll be fine!

TheDrifter 23

Unfortunately that's not common in modern academia. Very few fields encourage free thought, the rest simply strive to produce the best read sheeple that they can, stifling free thought and dissenting opinions, regardless of factual basis, while glorying in the modicum of fame they get from others repeating their decades old theories as gospel.

Sheeple. I like it. I completely agree. I recently received criticism after I utilised a new method rather than the standard during my experiments (my method is faster, requires no personnel training, and less invasive with no pain associated). The critics brains apparently shut down, as no matter how hard I argued it, they just kept responding that I should be using the method developed 15 years ago, as that's the benchmark.

Science is only science when there are no holes left to be poked through it. If you are able to challenge their method and can prove it very well then I'm sure the professor will like someone taking a shot at their work.

Now the first part of your sentence is a big bucket of bullocks. Your statement would e.g. imply that all of modern string theory does not count as science, since we have no theory that does not have any such "holes". All string theories so far only differ in the amount and importance of the holes they have, there are none without any such inconsistencies.

And yet, when all the holes have been poked through and fixed, is not a law of science made?

DeadxManxWalking 27

They should make an exemption if it was good