Venting Thread

[MVSCZAR]

28 minutes ago, Cecinestpasunphilosophe said:

Fantastic.

I often try and argue that the Continental/Analytic divide is a false dichotomy precisely because of Catholicism - I think Catholic philosophy (which I know is a loaded term, and I want to use more broadly than either Gilson's narrow conception or the traditional understanding of Catholic philosophy = neo-Thomism) is a robust tradition that genuinely tries to bring together Analytic and Continental methods and thinkers. And it's a tradition that's able to bring together thinkers as diverse as Anscombe/Geach (the more 'traditional' 'Analytic' philosophers) and Merleau-Ponty. So I find it interesting to see you arguing that, rather than transcending the divide, Catholic philosophy was actually supplanted/?sublated? by the Continentals!

I'm not even committed to the argument. I have no idea where it came from even. I surprised myself. 

[philosophe]

Why is it so quiet today?!?!  

[gughok]

7 hours ago, bechkafish said:

That's fantastic! The writing/submitting, obviously, not the rejections. What kind of sci-fi do you write? What kind of sci-fi do you read? If Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlein were hanging off of a cliff and you could only save one...

(These are the really important questions they should be asking in introductory ethics courses, btw.)

So here's the awkward and unfortunate part: through astronomical misfortune I did not have an iota of exposure to science fiction until maybe a year ago (I was an avid reader of fantasy, somehow never made the step). Even then I didn't quite realize how amazing it is. As of a few months ago, however, I've been trying to get my hands on as much as I can. The problem is our library doesn't really carry that sort of thing, and the public library is too far, so I'm stuck reading online shorts in prozines. I've mostly just inhaled thousands of pages of Asimov (fiction and non-fiction). Beyond that, largely just short fiction (though I've also read H. G. Wells and Douglas Adams). I'm trying to get more but... the books just won't come fast enough.

That said, the sci-fi I write is an application of the philosophy I do/read. Usually it's some sort of intersection between mind and ethics, the sort which I am not trained to do academically. I've also studied physics et al. so I do that, too. I've found I can't really read the whimsical, imagination-gone-wild sort of science fiction. I'm more of a hard sci-fi person.

Unrelatedly, and I'm only writing this here because it seems like the most appropriate thread: I spoke to my advisor today, who said she had heard from friends at UCLA that they were having difficulty opening my personal statement. They were alleged to have contacted me, but I can say with certainty that never happened. Apparently they figured it out, but this leaves me perplexed that somehow my pdf screwed up, and terrified that it cost me big.

[502845824]

Ridiculously slow day today..... 

[gughok]

Update: my other advisor just emailed me about a paper, and appended: "I contacted people at UCLA and Rutgers I know to tell them not to miss out on you. They said that your application 'looked amazing'... So I'm hoping that bodes well. Not knowing is hard, but I'd be cautiously optimistic."

This, at least, is a sliver of light cutting through the thick gloom.

[majorshake]

Omg.. Someone from the same suburb as McGill checked out my Academia.edu profile. Hoping so hard that they send me something, they're a near perfect school for me. PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[MVSCZAR]

16 minutes ago, gughok said:

Update: my other advisor just emailed me about a paper, and appended: "I contacted people at UCLA and Rutgers I know to tell them not to miss out on you. They said that your application 'looked amazing'... So I'm hoping that bodes well. Not knowing is hard, but I'd be cautiously optimistic."

This, at least, is a sliver of light cutting through the thick gloom.

Dude, sounds awesome. I'm just floored that someone even decided to read my writing sample without me having to pay them (although, I suppose I did, in a way). It sounds like they're into you. It's the adcom version of "hook me up with your friend."

[MVSCZAR]

1 minute ago, majorshake said:

Omg.. Someone from the same suburb as McGill checked out my Academia.edu profile. Hoping so hard that they send me something, they're a near perfect school for me. PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

ohgodohgod. EEEEEEEEEE. Fingers crossed. 

[502845824]

 

29 minutes ago, majorshake said:

Omg.. Someone from the same suburb as McGill checked out my Academia.edu profile. Hoping so hard that they send me something, they're a near perfect school for me. PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Just got a random academia.edu hit myself from Greensboro, NC -- not too far out of Chapel Hill... ? What could it mean?!?! Maybe it bodes well for each of us? Good luck!

[AgentScully]

12 minutes ago, oldhatnewtricks said:

 

Just got a random academia.edu hit myself from Greensboro, NC -- not too far out of Chapel Hill... ? What could it mean?!?! Maybe it bodes well for each of us? Good luck!

I've been getting hits from Toronto and New York - dying to know what it means.

[majorshake]

2 minutes ago, AgentScully said:

I've been getting hits from Toronto and New York - dying to know what it means.

 

16 minutes ago, oldhatnewtricks said:

 

Just got a random academia.edu hit myself from Greensboro, NC -- not too far out of Chapel Hill... ? What could it mean?!?! Maybe it bodes well for each of us? Good luck!

 

45 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

ohgodohgod. EEEEEEEEEE. Fingers crossed. 

My fingers are crossed so hard for everyone here.

[MVSCZAR]

6 minutes ago, AgentScully said:

I've been getting hits from Toronto and New York - dying to know what it means.

Excellent! I hope it means all the good things. 

[gughok]

53 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

Dude, sounds awesome. I'm just floored that someone even decided to read my writing sample without me having to pay them (although, I suppose I did, in a way). It sounds like they're into you. It's the adcom version of "hook me up with your friend."

I know, I guess our fees were just an hourly wage for people to read this stuff, eh? But anyway, thank you. I can only hope I don't end up in one of those horror stories where everyone including the committee expressed optimism about the application only to have to raise their hands apologetically and mumble "we're so sorry we just can't take you it's... it's not you it's us."

[Dialectica]

As happy as I am for those folks with academia.edu hits, an uneasy thought keeps cropping up, namely,  that such hits are a necessary condition for being admitted. I'd like to think that's false, and I have a hunch it is. But, still, it's hard to not be confronted with that thought. 

[oldmanPhDStudent]

1 hour ago, gughok said:

Update: my other advisor just emailed me about a paper, and appended: "I contacted people at UCLA and Rutgers I know to tell them not to miss out on you. They said that your application 'looked amazing'... So I'm hoping that bodes well. Not knowing is hard, but I'd be cautiously optimistic."

This, at least, is a sliver of light cutting through the thick gloom.

I hope you get it, for sure! Keep your head up.

[MentalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Dialectica said:

As happy as I am for those folks with academia.edu hits, an uneasy thought keeps cropping up, namely,  that such hits are a necessary condition for being admitted. I'd like to think that's false, and I have a hunch it is. But, still, it's hard to not be confronted with that thought. 

They're clearly not a sufficient condition. Someone in Arizona downloaded all of the three slightly better than decent seminar papers I put on there for the sake of having something on there. It seems to have availed me nothing.

Granted, someone in Tallahassee did take a look, but not until a couple days after I got in.

Edited February 19, 2016 by MentalEngineer

[Dialectica]

5 minutes ago, MentalEngineer said:

They're clearly not a sufficient condition. Someone in Arizona downloaded all of the three slightly better than decent seminar papers I put on there for the sake of having something on there. It seems to have availed me nothing.

Granted, someone in Tallahassee did take a look, but not until a couple days after I got in.

Certainly not sufficient, right. But it's really the necessary bit that's concerning. I've got crickets. Maybe waitlists don't warrant that close of a look, whereas admits do. It's not a fun thought, and I probably should just forget it. But, like I said, hard to shake it. 

[MVSCZAR]

Guys, I went to the Met yesterday and took a picture of the admissions committee in real life. 

 

[philstudent1992]

44 minutes ago, Dialectica said:

Certainly not sufficient, right. But it's really the necessary bit that's concerning. I've got crickets. Maybe waitlists don't warrant that close of a look, whereas admits do. It's not a fun thought, and I probably should just forget it. But, like I said, hard to shake it. 

I've been accepted to a program without first receiving an Academia hit from that area. So, you know, take that for what it's worth.

[Dialectica]

50 minutes ago, philstudent1992 said:

I've been accepted to a program without first receiving an Academia hit from that area. So, you know, take that for what it's worth.

Thanks for that info! And, oh, I will take it for what it's worth. I'm going to now swing fully in the other direction and think such hits mean nothing! (I wish that were true.) 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by Dialectica

[torpedofish]

1 hour ago, Dialectica said:

Thanks for that info! And, oh, I will take it for what it's worth. I'm going to now swing fully in the other direction and think such hits mean nothing! (I wish that were true.) 

 

 

I've gotten a couple of acceptances so far and I don't even have an academia.edu page ... (in fact, you can't find very much at all if you google me, except for a couple of minor things already included on my CV)

Edit: I'm very tired, and it seems to me like maybe my contribution here was beside the point. I think the main thing I wanted to communicate is that there may be enough applicants where googling is useless, and so maybe some places just don't do it or at least not routinely, and when people do get hits it's because some professor thought 'Hm, interesting, let me see if this person has other stuff online'

Edited February 19, 2016 by torpedofish

[majorshake]

Honestly, I mostly mentioned it because it was from the precise area McGill is located in, and also, because I have so little hope that any sign, however faint, seems like a pyre burning atop a mountain.

[majorshake]

I have a huge feeling that McGill will release offers while I'm asleep (Friday North American time). 

My reasons:
1. That ping on my academia profile (yeah, it's circumstantial and likely nothing, but I have nothing so far, so I'm going to take this as a portent)
2. the weird periodic inability to log onto the application page
3. I wish really hard that this will happen
4. I don't care, it's just like, whatever.. I haven't got any emotional or other stake in this whatsoever. Not at all. Not me, sir or madam or person, not at all. 

[bechkafish]

On the off chance that Brown releases today, I have maximally social drinking scheduled, complete with a Plan B scenario just in case the Plan A people bail on our plans. I will be drunk tonight, no matter what happens. I'm pretty sure this is the only acceptable course of action right now.

[FoxAndChicken]

33 minutes ago, bechkafish said:

On the off chance that Brown releases today, I have maximally social drinking scheduled, complete with a Plan B scenario just in case the Plan A people bail on our plans. I will be drunk tonight, no matter what happens. I'm pretty sure this is the only acceptable course of action right now.

I figured out how to make a drink that tastes like jolly ranchers about a week ago, and so I told my friends about it and now they all want to try it too. So we're having an alcohol-that-doesn't-taste-like-alcohol party. I also previously perfected the bubblegum shot.