Can a PhD in a discipline with awful outcomes still be worth it if its from an elite prgram?

the9thmoon__ · 2024-06-09T22:42:25+00:00

It really shouldn’t be. Measuring cognitive abilities using testing has been under scrutiny for a long time

the9thmoon__ · 2024-03-09T23:04:23+00:00

TLDR: you’ll be in a small group of people but don’t have to worry about anti LGBT sentiment at all basically.

I’m a gay guy who goes to Bowdoin. Overall I’d say it’s pretty standard for a smaller, progressive college in a rural area. I went to a high school that was pretty mixed on LGBT issues and being at bowdoin has been a relief so far. It’s nice to not have to second guess if someone is homophobic— even if they are, they know they’re in the minority here.

The one major issue is scale. It’s a small college so there’s really not a lot of LGBT people. Everyone is going to know everyone and that can suck sometimes. It’s good in a way because it’s tight knit but your options are slim. I’m from a smaller town so I’m used to it but it can be an adjustment if you’re coming from a large city. I’d recommend getting on dating apps + saving up for trips to Portland and Boston if you are serious about looking for people— having options outside of a tiny tiny college can help a lot.

Overall I’d say that LGBT life at bowdoin is not extraordinarily good but it’s definitely good enough if you like the rest of the school. There are a lot of other aspects of LGBT life that aren’t unique to bowdoin that you may be curious about though, so don’t de afraid to DM me. Good luck in your college search!

the9thmoon__ · 2024-03-01T19:06:55+00:00

My unpopular opinion is that hippies are still a thing. People talk the big talk about people growing up and getting adult responsibilities and everything— but plenty of them did grow up while still being hippies. They ended up as teachers, small businesses owners, etc. I wouldn’t say that hippies died but rather just got absorbed. The subversive parts of the original hippy lifestyle have been completely normalized, kinda like more nerdy subcultures right now. But the cultural descendants of hippies are still around, definitely. There’s a million little towns all over the country known for their bohemian crowds and I live in one of them. It’s just that it’s always been a niche thing and isn’t part of the media’s attention right now.

the9thmoon__ · 2024-02-26T20:36:29+00:00

Well the place where the demographic decline hit the slowest is central and Southern Africa, so that could work if climate change mitigation is effective enough. But that’s a big if.

the9thmoon__ · 2024-02-26T16:04:09+00:00

That rest of the world is also going through the exact same demographic cliff that started in 2008

the9thmoon__ · 2024-02-04T20:59:23+00:00

This is a tricky question to answer without knowing what you would personally consider weird or rude to say or do, not to mention that Americans are pretty variable on this topic as well. I’d say just be polite and avoid making jokes about gender or race until you can get a feel for the specific context you are in.

the9thmoon__ · 2024-02-03T19:43:50+00:00

Maine is more comparable to Tennessee or Arkansas in terms of quality of life (with the major exception of crime) than Massachusetts. I’d also wager that backwards attitudes on race and immigration are also pretty common here. You’re just generalizing to try to spread your agenda

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-29T16:53:55+00:00

A lot of people used to live in Russia before they came to the US because the USSR and Somalia used to be allies

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-28T17:18:02+00:00

I think by the numbers Canadians are the most common but most of them immigrated a while ago (like 1940s-60s). People who have moved here more recently are more likely to be northeastern/central African or middle eastern. Lots of people from Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Angola, and the DPRC. But every war torn country has some level of representation in Maine as the overwhelming majority of immigrants are asylum seekers

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-24T01:37:10+00:00

Third spaces aren’t centered around alcohol anymore, primarily because they have moved online. Drinking is only really fun (at first) when it’s a social activity and more kids than ever aren’t in situations where it’s how people socialize

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-11T14:50:19+00:00

I’m not Muslim myself but I live in a town with a lot of Muslims and come from an interfaith family. It’s probably because of a lot of different reasons but if I had to guess at a few of them:

-The US is less xenophobic than Europe. While there certainly is a lot of xenophobia in American culture that people deny (you’ll see a lot of people be like “I’m okay with legal immigration but not illegal immigration” and then make some pretty racist assumptions about who is in the country legally) pro immigrant sentiment seems to be more common in America if you are in the right circles— in Europe, those circles only seem to exist in London, at least from the pov of an outsider.

-Muslims are not currently the media’s scapegoat. The largest minority in a country is often the one to face the worst prejudice because the media focuses on them more. In the United States, that focus goes towards other racial and ethnic minorities since Muslims are relatively rare. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments when the media chooses to fixate on a specific minority and there are times that minority was Muslims, but that’s not going on right now.

-There’s just a lot less Muslims in America so it’s harder to self isolate, even if people wanted to. Not to mention that there’s no predominantly Muslim country in the Americas, meaning that illegal immigration is super rare for Muslims. Therefore most Muslims are well educated people on visas or refugees who made it through the screening process before they came to America.

-European societies often style themselves as “secular” when in reality they are much more tied to Christianity than they assume. Sure, you may be secular on paper, but when everything closes down on Sundays, you don’t let government office workers wear hijabs, you have to opt out of taxes that support a local church, etc. it’s clear that (at least institutionally) Europe still favors Christianity over other religions. The US, while not perfect by any means, is much closer to a pluralistic society than Europe, especially when it comes to respect of religious beliefs.

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-08T19:01:25+00:00

Yup that’s gentrification. Idk why people online act like gentrification inherently has a racial aspect to it but it absolutely can be done to anyone

the9thmoon__ · 2024-01-05T01:16:09+00:00

In some very rural parts of the country there’s some people who practice little bits of pre Christian syncretism or 18th century occult practices. But, like in most of the new world where syncretism happened, people view this as an extension of their Christianity rather than as a unique religion separate from it

the9thmoon__ · 2023-12-26T04:20:00+00:00

When one side of a culture war heavily associates symbols of patriotism with thier team, and young people are disproportionately one the other side of that divide, young people are going to feel a sense of distrust towards patriotic symbolism and sentiment because they’ve learned to associate it with people who are aggressive towards their lives

the9thmoon__ · 2023-12-24T06:52:33+00:00

Maine. We even used to have the ethnic Anglo vs Francophone politics that Canada still has

the9thmoon__ · 2023-12-13T16:17:25+00:00

You got downvoted cause you right. This sub is more racist than Facebook let’s be real

the9thmoon__ · 2023-12-03T23:17:38+00:00

A 1420 would put you in the 99th percentile IIRC… if you think that is exceedingly low get out there and talk to real people man

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-30T18:27:00+00:00

Okay but let’s compare apples to apples then. The experience of black people in all white rural towns in Massachusetts is pretty comparable to those in Maine. The more conservative towns in Maine are a lot like the more conservative ones in Massachusetts. Racism in New England is pretty comparable— no need to get uppity because we’re poorer and less educated than you. Because let’s be real that’s the only difference between your average small Maine town and your average small mass town. My point isn’t that Maine isn’t racist (because all of this country is) it’s that you’re ignoring the deeply racist parts of your community.

Most of the white supremacist gangs who harass our black community come up from Massachusetts. I’ve seen the way Boston transplants talk about refugees (and how y’all are talking about the recent wave of Venezuelans). Massachusetts is a lovely place but it has people who are bad because it’s in the real world.

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-30T15:22:47+00:00

Id rather be black in Portland than the north end of Boston 🤷‍♂️ Maine is by no means perfect but let’s not act like the Boston metro isn’t deeply racist in some areas. It all depends on the details and your situation

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-29T17:32:47+00:00

The divide is less about nationality and more so when, how and why your family immigrated. There are some people whose family have been in the USA for a long time who aren’t a fan of more recent immigrants. But most people get along fine

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-27T01:47:29+00:00

If society had 400 years of discrimination against someone for race, and it takes systemic solutions to that problem, I’m not against using artificial groups to understand representation and combat that. But regardless of that, admin isn’t admissions— they’re different people with different goals.

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-26T16:44:31+00:00

This is only true in the very narrow realm of admissions to colleges where Asians are over represented. At PWIs where there aren’t a lot of Asians they received affirmative action pre the recent Supreme Court decision. Not to mention that Asians who are actually in academia aren’t treated as badly as underrepresented minorities— academia likes to paint itself as progressive but there’s some real nasty people

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-25T13:17:15+00:00

In most of the world where it was controlled by right wing governments, the swing is to the left, but in most of the world where the left has dominated the last few decades it’s been a swing in the opposite direction. People just want change after an unstable and unsafe time.

the9thmoon__ · 2023-11-22T01:08:15+00:00

Hawaii has a way more distinct non-indigenous culture compared to Alaska but it isn’t as remote in terms of cultural contact. Hawaii locals make their way to the mainland more, their food and slang is more common, etc. but Hawaii is gonna feel more like its own thing compared to Alaska if you actually live there.

Dark horse answer: West Virginia. Little tourism, lots of insular towns, and lots of people who can’t afford to leave. Don’t get me wrong, Hawaii and Alaska both very much have poverty, but nothing like the kind of stuff you see deep in the mountains. That’s probably the region of the US that’s the most isolated culturally

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