Disenchanted

inthistogether · October 25, 2014, 1:33am

Hi all,

I'm a current student at Reed at a loss for what to do. I'm older than most students as I'm a nontrad. I transferred here from a CC out-of-state (yes yes, I know, please spare the jokes) and unfortunately, I did not visit the campus. I went with my gut feeling based on piles of research and preparation that Reed would suit me splendidly (and a family member that lives out here). Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Just to be clear, there are a lot of things about the school that I like. The campus is gorgeous, and I love walking around the canyon. I've made several friends so it's not a matter of feeling completely socially isolated or lonely, although I feel like a big portion of the campus is on a different wavelength than I am. I love being able to run into awkward or outrageous situations just walking across the campus. There are plenty of music and art activities happening almost all of the time, and the offerings for current students is fantastic. Some of my teachers I really like and they are super caring and nice. Also, the activism is satisfying, though I'm not a fan of the naked expression... anyway.

I feel disenchanted by the academics at Reed. It's not about JUST the amount of homework and reading that's assigned (incoming sophomore, btw, so I know it will only get worse), it's about the WAY that the information is presented. It seems like all of the material is exceedingly dry, formal, and sometimes has a tinge of bias. For example, Plato is looked down on with every opportunity in every article I've read that happens to mention him. What gives? I happen to like Plato's Form theory, and I don't care if that makes me "tragically unpopular" in the cerebral Reed crowd that wants to scoff him. That's not academically neutral, that's a bias that Reed is teaching through the promotion of biased materials.

I find that any non-traditional, alternative approach to viewing something is met with, at worst, mockery and disdain, and at absolute best, mild amusement under the air of neutrality. Most articles I read are littered with at least one or two incomprehensible vocabulary terms per page, and it seems like the author just put them in to be pretentious and smug. One of the articles I was reading was using constant phrases like "Of course...", "Obviously..." etc. I absolutely can't stand this writing style, and I don't know what to do about it. I thought I would enjoy reading primary source things and studying things from an ancient lens, and it's irritating me so much that I feel disinclined to want to do any of my homework, because it feels like nothing I'm reading actually matters.

I come from a school that had a diverse student body where most students worked at least part-time, many full-time, and the age range and ethnic diversity was fantastic. I'm not finding that here. I'm finding a majority populace of white teenage nihilistic, skeptical, cynical, or overtly-analytical individuals. I'm a spiritual person, and most people I try to talk to in explaining my worldview either act amused or completely disagree with me (and in a couple of cases, even try to tell me why my worldview "doesn't make sense"). This is infuriating. The tolerance level here is appalling. I get that the school is secular, but I never thought Reed would actually be THIS resistant to any sort of spirituality whatsoever (and just to be clear, I'm not pushing any of my beliefs onto anyone else, I simply want respect and an open-minded discussion rather than the illusion of it under biases).

I'm also finding that the lack of external motivation from teachers and outside sources is a huge turn-off for me. I didn't even know this until I came to Reed, but that's actually a big motivator for me. I can do oustanding work, but I need reassurance and encouragement from others (i.e, teachers) to do that, and the kind of praise I get is sparse, specific pieces that seem like just barely enough to keep me going... and sometimes, the amount of overwhelming, unbalanced criticism that focuses too much on critique is discouraging and disheartening. The other problem I have is that I'm motivated best when I'm working on projects that I actually care about, which is why I would often request to do things off-syllabi or incorporate some of that at my old school. Or I could do some creative piece to what we were learning. There is not a drop of creativity in reading hundreds of dry pages every night, writing down key concepts, and regurgitating it all in the next class at my "conferences" (which are another problem I won't get into...). I feel like if Reed could provide me creative freedom in what we're learning, I could motivate to do the work.

So basically, Reed is already depressing me and I've only been here a couple of months. It's felt like eternity. I need some advice as to how long I should wait before I decide to transfer somewhere else, or if I should. I know that now my "grades" will be a problem because I won't do as splendidly as I did at CC (4.0),so it'll make it harder to get into anywhere that I actually want to go because of Reed's system and my apathy towards the work.

So as for actual questions:
Anyone have personal experience with the Religion department at Reed and the atmosphere inside of it, both academically and externally? Other than the OFCS group and the "chanting" club, are there other offerings of a spiritual nature at Reed for EC's I'm unaware of?

Thanks for reading. I really want to like Reed... I did, after all, move across the country to be here. I'm just not sure how to get out of this depression towards the portrayal of academics here, and if there's ANY way I can incorporate alternative/integral components into my education here.

merc81 · October 26, 2014, 2:31am

@inthistogether‌: While you are waiting for responses from people with Reed experience, I’ll comment a little more generally. I’d say that as challenging as your experience has been to you personally, others have gone through disillusionment at other colleges. The reasons may vary, but commonly the underlying disconnect is similar: a prevailing campus culture that seems somewhat antithetical to one’s own ethos. So that’s the negative for you and others.

The other side is not quite so bad. You, ultimately, own your education. Reading dry text with comprehension is a skill that few in the broader world, even broader collegiate world, posses. You don’t have to buy-in to all the content. Strauss, for example, supposedly wrote in Obscurantism. Whether you care for Strauss or not, you are developing the ability to understand him. So you are aquiring this capacity to use how you want. That’s your right.

You haven’t been at Reed for that long. You may have met some smart, stupid people. There are plenty of them. I have no personal experience with the College but, on paper, I have thought highly of it. I would think you could find some smart, smart people there, including professors – people who are flexible within their academic discussions. My recommendation is to not let your disenchantment interfere with your progress in the meantime. If you transfer, you transfer, but your work now is still important to your education.

So, I have two questions for you: Do people really make fun of community college? Is it really hundreds of pages of dense material that they expect you to read nightly, for over one thousand pages per week?

Truly wishing you success.

intparent · October 26, 2014, 2:58am

And this is why (in general) no one should accept admission at a college they haven’t visited. Even more true with Reed, which has an unusual flavor.

Have you checked out the course offerings in the religion department and gone to chat with a professor? That might be a great place to start.

merc81 · October 26, 2014, 2:59am

Scratch the uppercase in obscurantism. It looks ignorant.

merc81 · October 26, 2014, 4:31am

Spelling corrections: possess, acquire!

Ghostt · October 26, 2014, 6:42am

This all sounds like stuff that should be immediately apparent if you do your research. I didn’t visit Reed either, but what you describe is exactly what I expected to find here, and I found it. That’s why I don’t actually think visiting Reed as a prospie is essential to making an informed college choice–but trawling the internet for student testimony might be.

To be clear, I’m not saying you didn’t do your research; I’m just wondering what exactly you looked at to miss these major aspects of the Reed experience. Did you mostly go by the admission office’s marketing materials? They tend to paint a very sanitized (and blatantly misleading where ethnic diversity is concerned) picture of Reed.

Secondly, some of the things you complain about are characteristic of many private liberal arts colleges, e.g. a predominantly white, sheltered, young student body whose social activity revolves around campus/happens in a bubble. Some of your complaints, e.g. dry reading assignments, abstract discussions and ample criticism, would easily apply to any academic institution or environment that aspires to academic rigor. And some I simply cannot agree with, in particular your assertion that people at Reed don’t take Plato seriously. One of the recent stars of the political science department, who is now an alum, was notorious among the student body for invoking Plato as an authority/relevant perspective on absolutely every topic. Naturally, this student wrote his senior thesis on Plato and is now a doctoral student at a university that is a powerhouse in political theory and ancient political thought. The classics, philosophy and poli sci departments at Reed all had a hand in enabling him to embark on a career devoted to Plato, and are very proud of him. I don’t think that would have been the case if everyone at Reed, or even just a sizable minority of professors in related departments, disdained Plato. It sounds to me like you’ve chanced upon a particularly opinionated hum conference.

But I digress. My point is, it seems that you’re finding some aspects of ‘elite’ liberal arts education off-putting and alienating. Your reaction is totally valid, but I think if you were to transfer to another liberal arts institution, you’d have a similar experience. Few liberal arts schools cater to students who want a practical/accessible education. Names like Amherst and Stanford come to mind, but transferring into them as a Reed student with less than perfect grades and one transfer already behind you seems highly unlikely. PSU right here in Portland sounds like it might also be to your liking, though. (I don’t mean this in a patronizing way, if that’s how I come across. PSU students come from more diverse backgrounds, the school offers courses in more fields, and from what I understand there is less reading and more practical/non-academic work in class than at Reed.)

Which brings me to my next point: If you want to transfer to a moderately selective institution, you absolutely need to buckle down and do well in your classes regardless of how unrelatable you might find them. It is easy to spend four (or three) years at Reed in a state of bitter disenchantment and graduate with a bad GPA. It’s much harder to get good grades and get out of here, if that’s what you want. I’ve seen several people attempt the latter and end up doing the former–mostly because, and this is going to be a very uncharitable observation on my part, the qualities that make them want to transfer out of Reed usually preclude them from meeting the standard required to transfer out of Reed in a lateral/upward direction.

Finally, the religion department is a wonderful place and so is the classics department, with which it is most closely affiliated as the two share recreational space and an ad hoc major. However, if you’re looking for a spiritual community, that’s not it. I mean, no one in the religion department is going to laugh at you for believing in whatever higher power you like, but it’s an academic community dedicated to analytical approaches to faith in a global perspective, not a Bible study group. (In practice it also crosses over into anthropology, history, sociology and philosophy.)

I know of another spiritual community on campus, but I’m uncomfortable revealing its members’ identities here since I don’t think they have a formal name for their group. I should think going to OFCS meetings would put you in touch with most of Reed’s practicing Christians, though.

inthistogether · October 31, 2014, 1:03am

First, thank you all for responding! I’ll answer your questions now:

merc81:

1) “So, I have two questions for you: Do people really make fun of community college?
2) Is it really hundreds of pages of dense material that they expect you to read nightly, for over one thousand pages per week?”

1) While researching Reed and other selective private liberal arts colleges as to get a sense for the atmosphere here, I came across several instances where people outright said “community colleges are a joke”, “That means nothing if you went to a CC and got a 4.0”, and other blatant attacks on CC students.

2) Dry, dense material and a lot of it, yes, but the hundreds of pages is more like per week, not per day. That would simply be psychotic, even for Reed… although I’m not a senior yet, so perhaps 200+ per night is in the horizon. :\

You make an excellent point about the disillusion happening in other places other than Reed. I guess for me the impact seems more profound because I moved from so far and also expected Reed to be more than what it is… even though it is great for what it offers.

Reading the dry texts in and of themselves is one thing, if I had the intrinsic motivation to know I could then coalesce the other perspectives that exist in that field and form a more cohesive knowledge. So, using the dry texts as a launchpad toward other endeavors that explore and expand on those ideas in creative, experimental, unconventional ways is what I ultimately want to do, and I’m finding it next to impossible to do that in any department at Reed, given the academic conservatism that pervades. To be clear, I think this is easier, perhaps, in performing arts majors like Dance or Theatre… I think they are doing some cool stuff there, although I’ve heard differently about Music and how the avenues are more-so either traditional or multicultural, but both in highly formalized environments. It would be interesting to hear more about the arts programs and anyone’s experiences with them.

To give you an example, I’m considering that if I do transfer, it would be to a school like Hampshire which would theoretically provide the opposite academic experience: freeing, creative, project-based, open-ended, alternative, experimental, and still rigorous (not as much as Reed’s rigor I know, but still respectable and worthy of consideration in its’ right-- which provides a very different educational experience).

Nevertheless, you are right in that I need to do the best I can in keeping up with the work here and getting what I can out of the experience. Thank you for that advice and encouragement. I’m working on finding sources of external motivation. Some of my teachers are helping me with this, which I appreciate. I haven’t missed any assignments or anything like that, I’m just finding it hard to put my best efforts into a subject that I really find is taught with an inherent bias that I strongly disagree with… it’s a complex situation, but I’m still trying.

inthistogether · October 31, 2014, 1:23am

<hr>

Hi intparent,

“And this is why (in general) no one should accept admission at a college they haven’t visited. Even more true with Reed, which has an unusual flavor.”

I get that… but it’s too late now. I could have scraped the money together to buy a round-trip plane ticket and taken off extra time from both work and school while in the application process, but it would have been immensely challenging and almost impossible for me to coordinate and pull together at that time. I took a risk getting here, and it’s certainly not all bad-- Reed really has a lot going for it.

I feel genuinely happy at times with my educational experience. My theatre class is great, and I’m finding the social scene to be at least alright (and the food is great!). Also, despite my differences, I’ve made several friends.

“Have you checked out the course offerings in the religion department and gone to chat with a professor? That might be a great place to start.”

Yes, I’ve checked out the course offerings extensively and talked with two of the professors in the department. One of them seems pretty cool and more academically liberal than the conservative environment there-- unfortunately he’s only a visiting professor, so I’m taking a risk by hoping that the Religion department will still provide me some of that liberality after he leaves. I have heard great and even excellent things about the department, but just can’t help feeling nervous that I’m missing out on something elsewhere, all of the directions I could go in with this material that I’ll be limited to here. I’m signed up for a Religion course in the Spring (and maybe will take two, if I can make the scheduling work).

Also, he is only one teacher I have heard who is more “liberal” in approach to education (I’m not talking politics-- just about academic freedom). I’ve met with teachers in the Anthro and Music departments and couldn’t find a similar professor. English and Theatre/Lit are out for me, given the extensive amount of requirements that I didn’t even start looking into until I realized Philosophy was not what I wanted.

My decision has become harder now because I feel like once my semester courses change, depending on how these Religion classes go, the academic atmosphere might become more open-- but regardless, unless something miraculous occurs, I will probably plan on putting in transfer applications in before the end of the Spring semester no matter how they go, just in case…

inthistogether · October 31, 2014, 2:36am

Hi Ghostt,

I came across your posts while doing research.

-- First of all, I did incorporate the admission office’s materials into my decision but did an ample amount of internet research and read endless student testimonials and forums. I see now that SOME of what I was reading was through rose-colored glasses, i.e. the emphasis on a “traditional education”. I read all about how students are passionately driven to want to analyze things and that some even find that to be the sole pursuit of conversation. However, I also sort of assumed incorrectly that MOST of these students, given the reputation for “inclusivity” and “diversity” would be genuinely open to other forms of discussion - IE, taking things such as spirituality seriously, engaging more in Socratic dialogue rather than reductionistic and analytical approaches to things, not referring to science as the all-encompassing mechanism for Truth. What I was envisioning, and even what I found somewhere quoted in some places (although maybe this is admissions, too) were students passionately debating philosophy in the heat of the night, and using both a combination of analysis AND intuition – subjective and objective – a truly integral approach to conversation that was open-minded and accepting. That, I’m afraid, is where I’m really, really wrong… some of my conversations have been great and some people are obviously more open than others, but I haven’t really found anybody like this.

The other aspect of my misreading Reed was about the academically conservative atmosphere. To be specific, I thought that the liberal student body would create unconventional and alternative approaches to education BEYOND the classroom, and that the MATERIAL itself was traditional, but then students would rip it apart by using all kinds of techniques, not just analysis, again, but more-so like the philosophical, spiritual, and intuitive kinds I was thinking. I was also thinking that things mentioned in class with ANY spiritual/mystical/esoteric nature (and this has happened to me several times in my Music class, and several times in my HUM conference AND lecture material, for example) would actually be engaged upon with a serious approach, rather than “Here’s this thing, and here’s why its wrong or stupid.” And finally, I thought that the teachers weren’t academically conservative, but rather that they just taught material that way, but then encouraged students to explore the material with great depth and creativity, and that students would have freedom with crafting papers with perspectives based on the material, room for projects beyond giant research papers, and an open-ended thesis environment. That was my hope, and dream, when I arrived.

The rest of my research seems consistent to what I’ve found. The rest of it are all either minor annoyances or genuine likes about Reed that actually make me want to stay here. There are some people that I just downright adore and love, and I would say I’ve made a fair amount of friends over the past couple months despite it all. The social life and the events are one of the things that keeps me externally motivated, and provides a much needed break from studies… and I know I would feel different (in fact, HAVE felt different-- I’ve spent hours and hours a day on projects and homework from my CC that I worked on and never seemed satiated enough). The difference was in both the writing and teaching approach to the material, the incorporation of perspectives outside of the conventional academic realm, and the immense freedom to pursue topics with creativity and specific guidance under my instructors while doing so.

“Secondly, some of the things you complain about are characteristic of many private liberal arts colleges, e.g. a predominantly white, sheltered, young student body whose social activity revolves around campus/happens in a bubble.”

-- This part didn’t necessarily seem like a problem while doing my research – it’s more so the perspective that comes from that…which isn’t necessary in an environment that’s predominantly white and young, but I guess more likely?

Thank you for clarifying that about Plato. I was referencing several of my Humanities lectures and conferences, so there is at least a minority of teachers who don’t think fondly of Plato. However, I am glad that there are some who do. In particular I think it’s more like his theories that are considered “out there”, like the Theory of Forms. May I ask what this student wrote about, if you know? That is interesting.

PSU wouldn’t be the right atmosphere for me given its size, lack of rigor and lack of financial aid. I like the Portland area (and I even like Reed… I’m reluctant to want to transfer) but I’m not looking for more practicality-- I think that Reed’s externships and internships and career offerings are pretty good, actually. I’m more interested in the creative freedom that it at least seems like doesn’t really exist in most of the Humanities fields here, with regards to, say, writing your thesis topic on something that takes spirituality seriously (not proposing that people should believe in a certain type of Religion, but exploring that with authenticity and looking at more, er, esoteric academic research in those fields).

“Which brings me to my next point: If you want to transfer to a moderately selective institution, you absolutely need to buckle down and do well in your classes regardless of how unrelatable you might find them. It is easy to spend four (or three) years at Reed in a state of bitter disenchantment and graduate with a bad GPA. It’s much harder to get good grades and get out of here, if that’s what you want. I’ve seen several people attempt the latter and end up doing the former–mostly because, and this is going to be a very uncharitable observation on my part, the qualities that make them want to transfer out of Reed usually preclude them from meeting the standard required to transfer out of Reed in a lateral/upward direction.”

This is my problem, maybe? Maybe you could clarify. It’s not necessarily that I can’t handle the work, because I feel like I could if I were motivated enough, as I mentioned. And it’s not like I wouldn’t do my work here but that I couldn’t do my best work without enough freedom to pursue these subjects… and given the huge, huge grade deflation here, that’s why I was saying I wasn’t sure I would do well enough to transfer at least laterally or slightly downward, for good reason.

I love the interdisciplinary aspect of the Religion department, at least in theory. I actually planned to major in Philosophy when I came here and found it to be too analytical for my tastes-- hence, why I’m now in Religion.

I’ve met a few of the OFCS people here, and they are cool, but as I’m not Christian, it’s not right for me-- I’m not looking for Bible studies, but more of I guess a “Unitarian Universalist” approach, with the capability to talk about life and the universe in a genuine way, with a bunch of people, in a deep, meaningful, heartfelt discussion, without using analysis. That’s really what I’m craving.

There’s many reasons why I want to stay at Reed. I’ve met with academic advising, support services, the dean… is there anything else I should do other than waiting it out for the Spring semester and seeing how classes go, and just trying to do what I can during this semester with getting through the material?

Thanks again everybody.

merc81 · October 31, 2014, 9:00pm

I’m glad you answered my questions, which could have been interpreted as rhetorical, but were not . . . I’d like to see how these derogating commenters would do in a chemistry, calculus or honors literature class at a decent CC.

So, you will have to make some practical decisions as you go through the academic year. A few thoughts on that, choose any that can be helpful:

-- Academic conservatism has it’s place, if for no other reason than the alternative is an undependable miasma. A lot of very interesting, constructive people got their start with a disciplined academic foundation.

-- Be careful in assuming rigor when contemplating a transfer. The college you mentioned has 2-score SATs 130 points lower than Reed’s (and were SAT optional, so increase that difference by another 25 to 75 points). While this difference may not be meaningful between individuals, between entire student populations it should not be discounted. (Btw, the one student I met from this college was intelligent, sensitive and somewhat counter-cultural. I’m not disparaging the school.)

-- Colleges are competitive with one another. “Transfer student from Reed College” would be something another college would like to print.

-- Even at Reed, Reed is not your entire educational provider. If you want more integrated experiences, you can seek them in extracurricular reading, in Portland or in nature. If some of this integration occurs post-collegiately, that is both a reasonable compromise and entirely normal.

I’ll again end with a question. What does a Reedie mean by “analysis?” I intuitively association it with deconstructionism, but I’m not a Reedie.

Wishing you success.

scmom12 · October 31, 2014, 9:20pm

OP you need to learn to motivate yourself. If you aren’t getting what you want from professors, try going to office hours to talk to them, but overall college professors are usually not in business of motivating you with feedback. And while you take prereqs you will find some dry classes with lots of reading. College classes often assume you spend much more time on your own working and reading outside class than on what happens in the class. And yes you may have to sit through a class where you don’t agree with professors POV but have to adopt it to get a good grade. This can happen at every college you could attend. And you don’t have to agree with everyone in your class on the merits of any one philosopher. You are still learning material. Going off syllabus to do “creative” stuff might work when you get further into major or if you do independent study or research project.

If this is your first semester here, then work on figuring what professors fulfill your wish list the best. Talk to upper level religion/philosophy students or check on line to see if there is a syllabus for the class before you sign up - maybe you will be less disappointed with your experience.

merc81 · October 31, 2014, 11:36pm

Should be: I intuitively [associate] it . . .

merc81 · November 1, 2014, 3:12pm

Should be: Academic conservatism has [its] place . . .

scubadive · November 1, 2014, 3:36pm

A liberal school does not mean its students or professors are open minded.

merc81 · November 1, 2014, 6:31pm

Another question: When a humanities student speaks about “theory,” what does he or she really mean by it? I know I could look it up, but I’d be interested in a current student’s definition, or definition by example. The usage itself seems to imply an oblique relationship to science – perhaps creating an esoteric association beyond the point of necessity.

Ghostt · November 1, 2014, 11:04pm

The OP probably means critical theory/the Frankfurt School, structuralism, postcolonialism, Foucault, etc.

OP, it sounds to me like what you’re looking for is truly antithetical to Reed as it was conceived and as it operates today. Reed has never kept its academic conservatism, by which I mean its devotion to analysis, traditional concept of academic rigor, etc., secret. Frankly, I can’t think of any semi-respectable school that would, in accordance with your stated desires, legitimize ‘spiritual’/non-empirical/‘experimental’ approaches to knowledge.

inthistogether · November 1, 2014, 11:59pm

I respect your point of view on that, Ghostt, but there’s no need to criticize what’s outside of your worldview as “respectable”, especially when you received your education at Reed and are therefore embedded, like me, in an atmosphere that takes extra measures to de-emphasize such avenues of learning and simultaneously promote (and place on a pedestal) traditional academics. I do not buy into the idea that non-traditional approaches to education are illegitimate or part of a “miasma”, in fact, this is a great example of the precise kinds of things that are wrong with the modern worldview. “Knowledge” comes in many forms. If NO ONE were alternative or experimental in their approaches to forming theories or creating something new, what kind of world would we have? Are you saying that a college like Hampshire isn’t respectable? If that’s what you’re saying, that’s a very dogmatic statement. If not, then please clarify.

This is also our (I would say the Western world in general) problem with being superficially multicultural and world-centric. If we truly were, we would realize that other countries absorb knowledge and hold alternative means of “knowledge”, such as intuition, much higher than us, yet we’d like to think that they are rightly “inferior” by their means of acquisition, especially if that involves spirituality and intuition, and that our subsequent theoretical knowledge (and embeddedness in the verb usage of “think”, being mind-centric) means that we are “smarter” than they are. Yet we still find them a fascinating study of the “other” and want to respect them artificially, but not truly. So you can think what you want to think, but it’s unnecessary to criticize what you don’t understand, and haven’t approached with authenticity and genuine openness.

I’m not looking for a debate but I don’t appreciate the aura of condescension that’s pervading around approaches to knowledge that are not academically conservative, like Reed. I realize there are obvious advantages to conservatism and am trying to accept them more, but it will never be a complete education to me.

That being said, I thank everyone for the constructive advice that they gave me and will have to consider this more carefully.

And finally, merc81:

I refer to analysis as a framework that relies on science, logic, and reasoning. Deconstruction is definitely part of it, but not necessary.

merc81 · November 2, 2014, 12:36am

Thanks for grouping those names and terms. (I thought maybe Derrida would be in there somewhere.) If I pursue the topic further, I’ll have a better idea as to where to look.

“I can’t think any semi-respectable school that would . . . legitimize 'spiritual/‘non-empirical’/‘experimental’ approaches to knowledge.”

You are referring to currently, so this is not a contradiction to your point; but you made me think of the UCLA anthroplogy graduate department, which tried it with Castaneda for as long as they could. Unfortunately, Casteneda’s writings were eventually interpreted as fiction in the form of nonfiction.

intparent · November 2, 2014, 12:37am

The posts on this thread from the OP and others seem so “Reedlike” to me.

merc81 · November 2, 2014, 1:19am

@inthistogether‌:

You may have conflated some of what Ghostt wrote with what I wrote. But you did make me me reconsider “undependable miasma.” I still would use those words, but with qualification. Departure from academic conservatism, which is really academic discipline, CARRIES THE RISK of finding oneself in an undependable miasma. So I was recommending caution only. Personally, I certainly have explored unorthodox ideas pretty far – and will continue doing so; but I’d like to think that the discipline I acquired in college is what guides me to pull back where appropriate.

I originally responded to your post because it was sincere, as well as intelligently and thoughtfully written. So know when someone is on your side, kid.

Wishing you success.

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