Benefit of Cascades for the Few: a Controversial Look at Academia
In our course, INFO 2040: Networks, the idea of cascades is introduced in such a way that everyone has his or her payoff and it becoming greater if the cascade is a correct one. It is implied that everyone will benefit if people are in the correct cascade. Opposing this idea of collective welfare is the idea of how cascades may only benefit a few selected elites and cause inequity. An article retrieved from The Socjournal, an online journal of sociology and society, contains ideas regarding enrichment of the elite and the maintaining of the status quo through academic communities and higher learning facilities. The supporting ideas and examples from the article can be illustrated to show how cascades form to create exclusivity among society and people in general.
Knowledge and innovation are some words to describe the world of Academia. Academia is where logical thinking, reasoning, and objectivity all come into play. The world of Academia has been in existent for over millennia since the days of Plato, who was a participant, or better known as an academic, in the world of Academia. Academia can be viewed as a perennial and universal place where any great men and women thinkers join to share and explore thoughts. Through such collaboration, knowledge is gained and new tools are invented. The world of Academia quickly forms into a system in which information is shared and passed on. Academia is therefore a cascade, an information-network.
A controversial argument regarding academia is made in that academia has changed so that self-interest is the underlying reason behind its presence today. The academic cascade is still valuable. It is a system in which people can indulge in studies and make something of themselves. But in the end, the cascade is beneficial only to the intellectual’s elites. These elites speak in codes that only they understand. They use complicated synonyms, instead of common words that everyone can understand. Furthermore, they create a system in which they control admission into the elites. Power and status quo seem to be the objective value in the academic cascade than anything else. They have perfected a cascade in which people compete with others to join the elites. In conclusion, the academic cascade is a realistic, frank, and alarming revelation of the reason for the existence of present academia. Do you agree?
-RedBlueGreen-
http://www.sociology.org/lead/academic-education-waste-space-mind-money-time/