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Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Sometimes Alex Usher sounds like Donald Trump when he asserts that "Nobody knows..." something and then proceeds to describe something we all knew about all along. In this case, it's the observation that academics belong to "learned societies that preside over standards for entrance and performance, for instance." The point he is trying to make is that all academics are "obedient" to these standards, and that "governments are barely aware of the superorganism." Which of course is horse-swaggle, all of it. Yes, there is a lot of nuance to the governance of academia. Yes there are academic societies (but they don't actually govern anything, much less expect obedience). And simplifying it as a "superorganism": that nobody understands serves no useful purpose. Image: Greenbiz.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 4:46 p.m.

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