Scientifically, Terrifically and Terrifyingly Stupid. Part One.
This is my theory, it is just that, a theory. Prove me wrong, please.
Oh, this is a beauty, the global scientific community conned by a group of jesters on 4chan. I mean, you couldn’t make it up, and it just goes to show that the best of us, the smartest of us, can easily succumb to stupidity through righteous cause mentality.
Yes a whole swathes of self purported smart people signed away all professional reason in the name of the “cause”.
They could all do with a brain transplant, and if they make a film they should call it “Back to the Suture”, (collective groan) I’ll get my hat…
I imagine that a few more on the easily accessible list of “Doltery” in academia have also sent money to the odd Nigerian Prince such is the degree of foolishness they displayed in participating in this cultural fraud. But more of that later.
It All Started With The Hashtags
So here we go. On or about the 9th of June 2020 about the same time that everyone was losing their collective minds over the Black Lives Matter organization (that is best left for another day when it comes to dissection) the two hashtags below began flying around twitter.
#shutdownstem
#shutdowacademia
The idea was that the shutting down would allow time for people to reflect on race relations, or something.
These two hashtags are slippery to pin down in terms of origins, but let us have a go for the fun of it. The theory I offer is that it originated on 4chan, a cesspit at times. It is no longer available, which is interesting in itself, but the screenshot below shows the original page as accessed by me on the 10th of June 2020 in response to the farcical number of students cancelling meetings with their oh so acquiescent professors and supervisors.
As Anonymous so succinctly puts it “That’s not a good thing, …you really fucked up.”
After a little digging I was I am unable to find any reference on Twitter to #shutdownstem (as can be seen in the image below), prior to the 5th of June 2020.
However, within no time at all the writers, I will not use the word Journalists, over at Physics Today had managed to report that this phenomenon existed, (and they may well know something I do not, this is just theory after all), and before you know it we were up and running.
The Physics Today folk loudly proclaim the following on their about page.
Physics Today, the flagship publication of the American Institute of Physics, is the most influential and closely followed physics magazine in the world.
The mission of Physics Today is to be a unifying influence for the diverse areas of physics and the physics-related sciences. It does that by providing authoritative, engaging coverage of physical science research and its applications without regard to disciplinary boundaries…
…or any research, if I am correct about this whole virago.
Andrew Grant works for Physics today and is on Twitter as @sci_grant although no mention of the article appears on his timeline (10th June 2020).
The hashtag subsequently appeared in an article on Gizmodo on the 9th of June 2020 at 9.25am. Filed in Science Activism, which begs the question of what activism do they mean? This article was titled….
As an aside, isn’t it interesting that it says black lives and not “black lives matter”, I wonder why?
The author of the piece is also on Twitter.
@RyanFMandlebaum. It appears that the piece was retweeted by Ben Shapiro who has 2.7 million followers.
Another Tweet followed…
The article states….
“White supremacy is baked into science and academia, from racist language in textbooks to a culture that excludes Black scientists from innovating and advancing at the same pace as their colleagues. But rather than more milquetoast statements and diversity initiatives, researchers want action.”
This claim is not substantiated within the document.
It continues…
“Both Particles for Justice and #ShutDownAcademia/#ShutDownSTEM have listed actions that academics and science professionals can take in order to dismantle racism in their respective fields, if you’re hoping to get involved.”
This seems to be one of the first mention of particles for justice. https://www.particlesforjustice.org/
A visit to that website provides a marvellous list of the hundreds of academics who have signed it, though I suspect they signed for something else, who can tell?
You can see below that there is a convenient link to additional strike supporters and it is certainly worth a look or even a search.
It also has a strange disclaimer that links to a previously designed huff from 2018.
When looking at this website the first striking image is the power fist that is recognized as a sign of nationalism. It is so obvious that you cannot miss it. Seems many did.
They then go on to discuss the following…
It’s all a bit fraught to say the least and reads like a Social Justice Warriors guide to manufacturing grievance. It is also steeped in American problems which makes you wonder why so many illustrious folk from the UK have signed this.
It is not a UK that I recognize, nor one that anyone else I have spoken to does either.
Is this anti-enlightenment thinking?
Is this anti science thinking?
In the resources pages of that site they highlight links to organizations such as “Manifest No” who…
…celebrated and learned from Latinx, Black, queer, trans- and Indigenous feminist thinkers who have mobilized critical refusal as a powerful tool to open up and insist on radical and alternate futures.
There is also a list of apparent authors available on the site at the bottom of the page.
The only names that seem to have any obvious ownership on this website appears to be firstly a Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who appeared in the Physics Today article and who is on Twitter as @IBJIYONGI.
Her Twitter account reveals a staunch supporter of #blacklivesmatter organization as well as membership of 500queer scientists. https://500queerscientists.com/chanda-prescod-weinstein/
Her partner in editing is called Brian Nord, who has a personal statement available on the website…
https://www.particlesforjustice.org/letter
This appears to be his twitter handle. @iamstarnord.
Some of the most recent tweets from both can be seen below.
Here we can see a link to a 2018 article calling diversity a dangerous set up.
This whole thing appears to have morphed somewhat in intention, or has it?
Notice the use of the keywords Queer the Land, a reference to Queer Theory, a recurring theme in the Black Lives Matter organization that have been outed now for what they are.
Both individuals are staunch supporters of BLM and at first glance only, originators of #shutdownstem phenomena spreading.
This may be the roots of the project, from 4chan, to Physics Today, to Gizmodo, to these political activists.
We then have the shutdown stem website itself. Who opened it has been redacted or hidden behind a privacy company, why?
Perhaps that is common practice, maybe a techie could advise?
Here is some blurb.
Notice the usage of the word’s antiracism, the binary “you are for us or against us.” No neutrality allowed.
It is profoundly authoritarian.
This called for pledges to the project and so far, I have identified over 180 names from a handful of top universities in the UK who have pledged to support this.
Universities Standards and Ethics departments may wish to take a look as well, if my theory is correct.
The rest, as they say is history.
This is information is purely provided for your consideration of an American cultural phenomenon that has spread to the UK and which can have long reaching and devastating implications. It makes no claim for truth, do your own work, that is the bloody point.
In the next article I shall explore this further, to explain the templating of a USA phenomenon over the UK, so we can see how one particularly University reacted and how the BLM organization infiltrated and captured at least one major Academic.
