Jason Arday #3

[InkHeart]

I went to one of the poshest universities, as a very poor kid from a council estate. At uni, a lot of people, even some teachers, were rude to me because of that. I sometimes didn't like them either, because rich people seemed very brash and naive to me. It's difficult to like anyone who asks why you don't just buy a car, when you spent your Christmas break eating from a foodbank. And I'm sure they saw me as a witch killjoy for pointing that out.

But it never occured to me that that needed to be "fixed" somehow. Cultural and personality clashes are normal at every stage of life. There is no rule they could have made that would make a place a good cultural fit for everyone at once. By all means, it's important to let poor kids have a good education, but there isn't a way to make people feel at home when they are very different from the majority of people around them. That's part of life. It happens when you study abroad, it happens when you're the only person under 35 at your workplace, it happens when you're the only man or woman in your workplace, and a load of other times. The answer is basically to rub along as best you can.

I think Arday and the people in his academic field are trying to conflate a real, fixable problem - any instance where someone can't go to university because they are black or poor is terrible and should be stamped out - with the fact that it's kinda crappy to be in a workplace where most people are socially different from you. The latter is unfortunately normal and not fixable.

 

[TrashleenMoron]

And now people have started to look into the PhDs that JA reviewed:

https://benryan.substack.com/p/cambridge-says-jason-arday-was-an

View attachment 4108976

I had never heard of 'Critical Poetic Inquiry'. Every day's a school day.

Jesus. How would such a pointless and masturbatorial proposal even get looked at, let alone funded?

 

[Bridgeofsighs]

This aged like milk.



"The Board of Electors on your interview day were absolutely unanimous. We are so lucky to have you. You are the best in the world in terms of the research you do!" Was his viva the same? Professors fawning over him?

Universities are largely a waste of time, especially for vague subjects like Sociology. In the US, there is a big movement away from them and towards learning trades instead. Is it the same in the UK?

 

[TrashleenMoron]

My "area" is narrow and specific, to the point where if you Google it you'll probably find something adjacent to me ... which feels horrific and braggy to say, but like I said, narrow and specific.

So calling me "the best in terms of the research I do" is not saying much(!), but as a somewhat-professional person, I just wouldn't expect to be called that, and would either be deeply suspicious or feel horribly condescended by anyone who did say that.

 

[InkHeart]

My "area" is narrow and specific, to the point where if you Google it you'll probably find something adjacent to me ... which feels horrific and braggy to say, but like I said, narrow and specific.

So calling me "the best in terms of the research I do" is not saying much(!), but as a somewhat-professional person, I just wouldn't expect to be called that, and would either be deeply suspicious or feel horribly condescended by anyone who did say that.

Jason Arday's research is talking about himself, so yeah, he's the best in the world at that

 

[Carefree]

Jason Arday's research is talking about himself, so yeah, he's the best in the world at that

Well, he did make up a tit tonne of his biography so

This came up on my Substack recommendations -

Jason Arday Actually Did a Lot of Harm

Autism doesn't work like that!

etanaedelman.substack.com

It was posted at the height of the reporting but interesting take.

 

[i'm.just.highly.selective]

This aged like milk.



"The Board of Electors on your interview day were absolutely unanimous. We are so lucky to have you. You are the best in the world in terms of the research you do!" Was his viva the same? Professors fawning over him?

Universities are largely a waste of time, especially for vague subjects like Sociology. In the US, there is a big movement away from them and towards learning trades instead. Is it the same in the UK?

Interesting that when he's with old chum Sandro he's almost extremely keeping his head bowed and not making eye contact with anyone at all, but with everyone else it's full eye contact and appearing completely confident and at ease, seemingly loving the attention.

 

[MrsFawlty]

I went to one of the poshest universities, as a very poor kid from a council estate. At uni, a lot of people, even some teachers, were rude to me because of that. I sometimes didn't like them either, because rich people seemed very brash and naive to me. It's difficult to like anyone who asks why you don't just buy a car, when you spent your Christmas break eating from a foodbank. And I'm sure they saw me as a witch killjoy for pointing that out.

But it never occured to me that that needed to be "fixed" somehow. Cultural and personality clashes are normal at every stage of life. There is no rule they could have made that would make a place a good cultural fit for everyone at once. By all means, it's important to let poor kids have a good education, but there isn't a way to make people feel at home when they are very different from the majority of people around them. That's part of life. It happens when you study abroad, it happens when you're the only person under 35 at your workplace, it happens when you're the only man or woman in your workplace, and a load of other times. The answer is basically to rub along as best you can.

I think Arday and the people in his academic field are trying to conflate a real, fixable problem - any instance where someone can't go to university because they are black or poor is terrible and should be stamped out - with the fact that it's kinda crappy to be in a workplace where most people are socially different from you. The latter is unfortunately normal and not fixable.

I couldn't your post enough @InkHeart ! Bit in bold above: Life is about coping with and adapting to mixing with other people. As humans we categorise people we encounter and it would be impossible to erase our differences, in fact it's these encounters with people from different backgrounds that teach us how to negotiate life.
Did Arday seek to raise up other children from his background by providing better access, facilities or economic assistance to education? No, he stuck himself on a pedestal, declared himself to be exceptional and his 'research' was based on anecdotes about his own bizarre life story.

 

[Boxatrix]

This reminds me of some training my work did. Some women did a talk about how we could provide better customer service by going the extra mile. She was absolutely terrible.

She kept going on about what if you were walking by a river in kept seeing dogs in the river. The average person wades in to rescue the dogs, but the smart person walks along the river to find out who is throwing dogs into the water.

She must have been laughing all the way to the bank.

I used to work in a veterinary hospital with a lot of very pragmatic but sensitive vets, nurses and admin staff. There was a time management issue for discharging animals, mostly because of the emergency drop ins. You could have a day planned like clockwork but one dog in an RTA or a choking cat and that was that. Somehow this happy clappy type came in to give us the benefit of her experience telling corporate types how to prioritise. She was bleeping useless because guess what - you can't just decide to save the dog and let the cat die. She died on her a and her whole presentation went down like a sack of rit with a load of bricks it.

 

[CarmenGhia]

Jesus. How would such a pointless and masturbatorial proposal even get looked at, let alone funded?

It's terrifying. I really hope she was self-funded.

I'd be interested to see the research output of her supervisor.

 

[Valiofthedolls]

Interesting that when he's with old chum Sandro he's almost extremely keeping his head bowed and not making eye contact with anyone at all, but with everyone else it's full eye contact and appearing completely confident and at ease, seemingly loving the attention.

Ugh.

FFS being six years old and watching John Craven’s Newsround the BBC didn’t patronize their audience with rit like this ‘report’.

(It’s an interesting watch tho for what they all say as much as the over-egged excruciating optics. Jason can’t even quote correctly what he’ll “never forget” Sandro saying and is about as articulate as he always is, and Sandro’s not 100% on some of the tit he comes out with. They have Jason meandering randomly up paths like Alan Partridge filming an advert for Dan’s kitchen showroom, and as for Hilary Cremin…)

 

[Bridgeofsighs]

I assumed Sandro was a fictional character. Guess he's real.

 

[Valiofthedolls]

And now people have started to look into the PhDs that JA reviewed. I had never heard of 'Critical Poetic Inquiry'. Every day's a school day.

Jesus. How would such a pointless and masturbatorial proposal even get looked at, let alone funded?

It's terrifying. I really hope she was self-funded.

I'd be interested to see the research output of her supervisor.

The senior professor Faculty of Education Head of Faculty (Dean)’s research focus and methodology of interest might shed some light on it.

Spoiler

ETA:

 

[Darvos]

This reminds me of some training my work did. Some women did a talk about how we could provide better customer service by going the extra mile. She was absolutely terrible.

She kept going on about what if you were walking by a river in kept seeing dogs in the river. The average person wades in to rescue the dogs, but the smart person walks along the river to find out who is throwing dogs into the water.

She must have been laughing all the way to the bank.

BIB Tell me you’ve never met a spaniel without telling me you’ve never met a spaniel (my thesis).

 

[Catsexyfeline]

This aged like milk.



"The Board of Electors on your interview day were absolutely unanimous. We are so lucky to have you. You are the best in the world in terms of the research you do!" Was his viva the same? Professors fawning over him?

Universities are largely a waste of time, especially for vague subjects like Sociology. In the US, there is a big movement away from them and towards learning trades instead. Is it the same in the UK?

Amazing that someone who is not a native English speaker succeeded to ‘teach him to read and write’ where everyone else failed.

 

[TrashleenMoron]

Interesting that when he's with old chum Sandro he's almost extremely keeping his head bowed and not making eye contact with anyone at all, but with everyone else it's full eye contact and appearing completely confident and at ease, seemingly loving the attention.

Someone who was there and knows about/was possibly complicit in his various lies, VS the latest targets of his lies?

I wonder if Sancho has/will said/say anything about Don Jasote and his tilting at windmills?

 

[MrsFawlty]

The senior professor Faculty of Education Head of Faculty (Dean)’s research focus and methodology of interest might shed some light on it.

Spoiler

View attachment 4109363
View attachment 4109351View attachment 4109352ETA: View attachment 4109359View attachment 4109361

Well, having seen Hilary's area of study I can now see perfectly how the whole ridiculous situation around Arday evolved!

If this is the standard of study at Cambridge I despair.

 

[TrashleenMoron]

People on twitter are moaning about how the spotlight of scrutiny has now moved onto Lord Woolley, and apparently that means the Digital Lynch Mob (awesome name for a rock band) won't rest until every black - sorry, "Black" - academic is hanging from a tree, digital or otherwise ...

Isn't it interesting how out of all the black academics they could choose to "target", it just happens the ones they look at turn out to have questionable credentials?

 

[TrashleenMoron]

Also I'm surprised that Race Griftef In Chief, "Dr" Shola doesn't have a thread here.

 

[CariettaWhite]

Also I'm surprised that Race Griftef In Chief, "Dr" Shola doesn't have a thread here.

Oh god that woman is monstrous.