A new faculty member faces his demons
Author Archives: Pat Bowne
Yet Another ‘How Did I Not See This Coming?’ Post
Being at the intersection of academia and SFF has been like watching two battlegrounds lately. But the wars have been almost entirely within the ranks, between progressives and liberals, so I thought they were politically irrelevant. After all, when a … Continue reading
Posted in real life
Comments Off on Yet Another ‘How Did I Not See This Coming?’ Post
Satire vs SFF
I’ve been reading brutal satire lately. It feels like cleansing my palate, brushing off cobwebs, struggling out of a too-tight sweater that was given me by an easily-wounded elderly relative who’s been here for an extended visit… OK, that metaphor … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Satire vs SFF
Bring Back the Luddites
I read it over and over. “President X can’t possibly bring back jobs, because ROBOTS. AUTOMATION.” People write it as if they were saying ‘President X can’t possibly fly because GRAVITY.” As if increased automation were an irresistible force of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Bring Back the Luddites
Politics needs the Cladistic Revolution
This was a big issue in my previous life in the world of systematics. The field was in a huge paradigm war between people who classified dead fish based on shared evolutionary novelties (the cladists) and people who classified based … Continue reading
Posted in all right already!, From the museum, real life
Comments Off on Politics needs the Cladistic Revolution
Credible Fiction
I read a book this week that lacked credibility. It wasn’t a non-fiction book, so those criteria of credibility didn’t apply. It was a novel about a well-defined phenomenon – the decline of the Jesuit order after Vatican II – … Continue reading
Posted in characters, reading, writing
Comments Off on Credible Fiction
Connect – or not?
A friend of mine was in a class of really shy people this summer, and the leader finally had them play the ice-breaking game Connect. Heard of it? I hadn’t either. It’s one of those games where you talk about … Continue reading
Posted in real life
Comments Off on Connect – or not?
Irritated by an Economist
Who isn’t? In particular, I’m irritated by this article from the NYT, in which an economist tries to grapple with the question of why voters simply don’t believe it when economists say global trade is good. You’ll be glad to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Irritated by an Economist
Review: Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer
How can you go wrong with a book that has been officially permitted by six governmental agencies, certified nonproselytory, and has a page full of detailed trigger warnings for sex, violence, discussion of religion, and opinions likely to cause offense? … Continue reading
Posted in book review, reading
Leave a comment
Complicity and Naming Buildings
When I joined my current school, we only had one building named after a person. It was named after St. Clare of Assisi, who I knew only as the patron saint of television. In recent years, the school has gone … Continue reading
The Charms of Discourse
That was the subtitle of Advice From Pigeons, but only Sofia Samatar got the reference. Maybe Matt Bruenig would have: he has an interesting post up today about how The Discourse marginalizes the people. I always agree with Matt completely … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
