powerless power
There’s something utterly pathetic of someone with power inflicting cruelty upon someone without. I’m not even talking about what the Republican headed government is doing now. It’s kind of what I see in academia.
Grad students are often powerless. Faculty have power and some take opportunities to be cruel. Cruelty disguised as “healthy critiques”. Though the critique is just a series of needless insults and a dressing down garbed in pointless attacks of the student’s character. Then some faculty will complain how their mentees need to toughen up. Too sensitive. Too fragile. How will they survive academia? Grants will be rejected. Reviewers will be critical. I roll my eyes. One can be critical without being an asshole.
Criticism should be objective as possible. I don’t think you need to waste energy being “nice”. At the same time, it seems ridiculous to spend energy being overly cruel. Feedback is critical for scientific progression while going out of the way to be an asshole is unnecessary expenditure. My wife is a critical mathematician and she gives me extremely blunt criticisms. There’s no niceties - she criticizes the work as is. Objective and impersonal. That’s what critique of grad student work should be in my opinion.
There’s a huge difference between blunt criticism and just what I call an impotent show of power. There’s something so powerless about this petty show of cruelty. Is it to flaunt your intelligence? Why compare yourself to those less inexperienced? Is it for control? How uncontrollable is your life?
I’ve been ruminating about this a lot. I don’t get why people with power use it for such trivialities. It’s like kicking a dog, why? I don’t want to be cruel- it’s just utterly cringe.