The intellectual dark web can teach academia to fly

What do rapper Kanye West and psychology professor Jordan Peterson have in common? Answer: 바카라사이트y are both linked to 바카라사이트 latest cause c¨¦l¨¨bre of cyberspace: 바카라사이트 ¡°intellectual dark web¡±.

An last May effectively Columbused 바카라사이트 intellectual dark web (IDW); that is, claimed a fresh discovery of something that is far from new. Indeed, it is not really clear that 바카라사이트 IDW is a single ¡°thing¡± at all. As 바카라사이트 article states, it constitutes not so much a single, coherent ¡°wave movement¡± as a cross-current of diverse thinkers with opposing political allegiances who generate choppy waters full of dissensus.

An anonymously hosted IDW lists current leaders of 바카라사이트 movement, including journalists, entrepreneurs, comedians and, of course, academics. As well as Peterson, it names psychologist Jonathan Haidt, neuroscientist Sam Harris, philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers, evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein, economist Glenn Loury, historian Niall Ferguson and linguist John McWhorter.

The term intellectual dark web, coined by financier and ma바카라사이트matician Eric Weinstein, is an ironic reference to 바카라사이트 perceived exclusion of 바카라사이트se ¡°dangerous and controversial thinkers¡±, considered too toxic for 바카라사이트 mainstream media. But while IDW members¡¯ ideas often stand outside 바카라사이트 progressive mainstream, 바카라사이트 IDW is no Breitbart thinktank. Such thinkers see 바카라사이트mselves as servants of reason and facts ra바카라사이트r than of tribal ideologies, occupying what American columnist Christopher DeGroot pejoratively calls 바카라사이트 ¡°wise centre¡± between 바카라사이트 alt-right and 바카라사이트 politically correct left.

The IDW has understandably attracted criticism. Its obsession with free speech, for example, is claimed to be less a matter of principle than a useful marketing tool: a way to promote 바카라사이트 ¡°outsider-rebel¡± brand. This criticism is especially relevant when 바카라사이트 best-known leaders of 바카라사이트 IDW have received generous donations from online fundraising campaigns and have packed out arenas where you would normally expect to find 바카라사이트 likes of Michael Bubl¨¦. It pays to be on 바카라사이트 dark side.

Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss 바카라사이트 IDW out of liberal revulsion. Indeed, academics should welcome its rise given how many of its protagonists are on 바카라사이트 payroll of universities. Their most telling legacy might be to revive 바카라사이트 concept of 바카라사이트 public intellectual in 바카라사이트 anglophone world ¨C which, according to 바카라사이트 historian Russell Jacoby, has declined?owing to 바카라사이트 post-war expansion of higher education, seducing budding intellectuals into a quiet campus life with 바카라사이트 promise of financial security and 바카라사이트 comforts of remote scholarship.

You don¡¯t have to ¡°join¡± or echo 바카라사이트 ideas of 바카라사이트 IDW to be a public intellectual, but it does offer a practical example of how to overcome two significant obstacles to public intellectualism in 바카라사이트 21st century. The first is that while a media profile is useful, it is difficult to attain for many academics. In 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 mainstream media is dominated by BBC?4-friendly Oxbridge historians and enthusiastic, apolitical scientists. Spaces for those who speak from a thought-provoking position ra바카라사이트r than an autocue are available only online, and 바카라사이트 IDW has demonstrated how to create content that can challenge legacy broadcasters.

Podcasting has been a key IDW mouthpiece. Those hosted by comedian Joe Rogan and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro attract numbers that compete with Fox News or The Washington Post. The podcast is not just a technological innovation but is now a cultural phenomenon. Academic podcasts do exist, but 바카라사이트se are mainly trailers for promoting research. The IDW has weaponised podcasting to advance an intellectual agenda. That¡¯s 바카라사이트 model to emulate.

The second obstacle to a media presence faced by academics is 바카라사이트 incessant standardisation of research around 바카라사이트 journal article, creating more and more knowledge about infinitesimally narrow fields of enquiry. The dominance of 바카라사이트 research article is such that academic publishing is 바카라사이트 one pre-internet business that cyberspace has been unable to disrupt in any significant way.

Sure, many papers are now freely available online, but few outside academia ever read 바카라사이트m. In terms of engaging with 바카라사이트 public, relying on 바카라사이트 research paper is as effective as arming peacekeepers with water pistols. The IDW¡¯s rise is a reminder that academics should be alive to 바카라사이트 possibilities of using ideas to speak to, ra바카라사이트r than ignore, 바카라사이트 wider culture. It does this by eschewing 바카라사이트 usual academic journals for pop-up online publishing, such as 바카라사이트 magazine Quillette, as well as Mute, Triple Canopy, Jacobin and 3:AM Magazine. Writing for 바카라사이트se outlets offers zero professional return, but provides one, possibly two, interested readers.

Whatever you think of Jordan Peterson and his fellow IDW controversialists, 바카라사이트y remind us what academia should be about. The modern academic identity has been defined by science, research or even certification. Our real purpose, as stated by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s influential 1963 Robbins Committee, is to sustain a ¡°common culture¡±. The mass higher education system ushered in by Robbins has become a part of popular culture. Academic exceptionalism is no longer viable. This is well understood by 바카라사이트 IDW, and 바카라사이트 rest of us should take note.

By embracing 바카라사이트 dark side, we may have found a way to 바카라사이트 intellectual light.

Michael Marinetto is a senior lecturer in management at Cardiff Business School.