Science Girl and I were talking about post-modern theory yesterday… no, really, we were. Any way, she came up with the most wonderfully snarky phrase I’ve heard in donkey’s years: the arrogance of the recently-educated. It’s the dogmatic insistence that whatever violently fashionable theory is currently making the rounds is, in fact, The True and Only Gospel. Any theory pre-dating it is utterly discredited and those who still adhere to it are either fools or hopelessly antiquated, and sometimes both. Sound at all familiar? Cast your mind back to when you were in college (or, if you’re still in college, stare at the wall for a moment) and see if it doesn’t resonate for you.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not claiming that everyone who qualifies as being recently educated does this, no more than I’m saying that anyone whose ideas don’t match mine does it. It’s just that I instantly recognized what she was talking about, and had a good long laugh over it – partially at my own expense, if I’m honest about it.
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