Former professor here!

Students these days are fucked. Professors are fucked too. Two points about AI and one about grade inflation. I’ll keep this brief and give you three quick observations:

1. US, Canadian, and UK students are increasingly under pressure to pay more for everything. When you need to choose between working to pay rent and studying, you outsource to AI. Student athletes are, by far, the worst due to the exploitation opportunity athletics programs view them as. Practice more, study less, shop it to AI.
2. Student evaluations caused me more pain than anything else. I won a student curated Teacher of the Year award at my university. I’m good at teaching and love it. My student evals were from the ones that got bad grades. Those students spent more time challenging a C or below than actually studying. I know other professors grade inflate just to avoid bad evals and lost time. The eval system needs reform.
3. The rapidity in the decline in critical thinking, writing, and problem solving skills is shocking. One moment that sticks with me was when a student insisted Flint, MI didn’t have a water problem but a political leadership problem. OK, fair, explain. They just stared at their laptop blankly. Started typing. Read a chatgpt response. That stuck with me. They probably heard a talking point or used AI for their question and had zero understanding of the situation at all. Its my job to inform them and educate, but it was the blind reliance on AI as their rationalization and knowledge tool that stuck.

I’m writing more and reading more, yet horrified of what to do with the later half of my life. So mixed bag mentally this week. However, I’m back with a great personal trainer and gym, mountain biking again (oh wow it’s been a hot minute), and enjoying cedar trees and mountains. So pretty happy with the physical fitness in these surroundings. I do miss cycling everywhere though…doing it in truck-land is a bit harrowing.

I have an internal morality, economy, and democracy check:

Does Steve Bannon, Steve Miller, or Russell Vought think it’s a good idea? If yes, it’s terrible and will hurt everything and everyone but them.

This administration watched The Dictator and thought it was an onboarsing guide to being in the federal government.

I will buy a used Pixel for this from a third party.

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I’m sorry but all I could think of was that scene from the Orville. “Five. Hundred. Cigarettes.”

Windrose but I’m hitting the “this got repetitive fast” stage and am starting to return to my classic RPGs. I’ve fired up an oldie but a goodie from the glory days of Bioware - Dragon Age: Origins. Dark high fantasy RPG. Absolutely loved it when it came out and I’m revisiting it. Its a little wonky compared to similar contemporary games like BG3 but oh so much fun.

“Enchantment? Enchantment!”

The Roberts court destroyed the constitution, rule of law, and precedence. He isn’t just a political actor, but a Benedict Arnold.

There’s a reason its called precedent. Its established, highly regarded law. Seen as truth setting and foundational. When you overturn not just one such precedent, but all of the ones a political party has campaigned against, you’re a political actor there John.

We should start calling him Johnny Reb at this point too. Bet he’d love it.

This paper is of the same caliber as all of those cigarettes are safe papers from the 70s. Funded propganada with a PR firm plying it to a willing news source.

As an aside, is the Guardian becoming a shit rag? Lately (last year or two) I’ve noticed a huge dip in their quality.

A few more days until I emigrate and reunite with my family. Start a new life outside academic research; whatever that brings.

I’m stoked.

I also had the best gluten free croissant of my poor celiac life in Amsterdam Zuid at Craft Coffee. Holy shit it was magnificent.