The utter foolishness of so many academics is constantly brought to our attention. But it’s never been more disgracefully displayed than by Auckland university hierarchy’s sheer mind-blowing stupidity in condemning five of their number for speaking the truth, namely there’s no such thing as maori science. Science has no ethnicity. It’s a system of hard facts based on evidence.
My favourite outburst emanating from this stupidity and definitely the overwhelming gold medal winner, came from an ecologist, Dr Tara McAllister, specifically, “…we (his maori ancestors) did not navigate to Aotearoa on myths and legends”.
Take note Tara. For your ancestors to navigate to New Zealand they must first have known of its existence. Failing that they were simply adrift at sea.
This disgraceful episode showed loud and clear that the word “academic” must never be confused with intellectual. In New Zealand, in so many cases, they’re poles apart as well demonstrated by this shameful episode.
Underlying all of this is the current cult of maori wonderfulness.
Meaning well is no excuse for dishonestly. But in fact it’s terribly harmful to maori betterment in promoting a sense of entitlement, fictional historic achievements and being short-changed by colonialism.
The recent episode that maoris “may” have been the first people to visit the Antarctic, the basis for this claim being mythology and the ability to sail a boat, took a lot of beating, but the Auckland university hierarchy have undoubtably bested it with this maori science absurdity.
How long before one of these bogus academic clowns announces maoris have swum non-stop underwater across Cook Straight, based on mythology and the ability to swim?
It will happen and the shameless disgraceful Royal Society will endorse it.
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In any enterprise, how you define the goalposts of success and reward is an important decision that will influence the direction of the organisation. In academia worldwide, the goalposts have been defined in terms of “wokeness” rather than uncovering and defining useful facts and theories that help us to better understand the world so in order to advance their careers, acedemics are encouraged to “out-woke” their colleagues and tick as many identity politics boxes as possible because this is the basis on which they are rewarded and advance. Re-define the goalposts toward a more useful objective and the direction of these institutions will gradually change.
Lord Rutherford said: “All science is either physics or stamp collecting”
Pushing back against intellectual dishonesty by vested interests has rarely been more important.
It certainly reinforces my previous view after applying at Auckland Uni that their thinking is that they are some elite mob significantly above their peers . More like out of touch with the common person I thought at the time.
After reading that they effectively forced a staffer to resign his position for espousing a view, I decided I would be pretty happy for my kids to go go to any other uni but Auckland.. Normally unis are front line of defence of free speech but obviously not Auck Uni , if it doesn’t fit the wokefullness or some academics agenda of the times … Maybe a fall of in donations and students may assist in refocussing them
Regretably Dave Auckland University is not alone in this sort of Guff with Massey and Victoria immediately coming to mind as recent cringe inducing operatives .
Sir Robert is right academics they may be, Intellectuals sadly they are not .
Our University system is a candidate for a massive Transmogrification though where the right staff can be found heaven only knows
I honestly believe that a lot of the types promoting this sort of crap, don’t actually care if the afore-mentioned crap has any relationship with reality. To some people, just the fact that it annoys sensible people of reasonable intelligence brings its own satisfaction.
Too many “academics” see themselves as politicians.
Too many “academics” see themselves as relevant, when clearly they are not.
Worse, too many woke politicians see themselves as intellectuals…
And just think of the vandalism as Auckland university destroys its brand. Can you imagine overseas students paying good money to study under these charlatans? The Magnificent Seven should set up their own university.
Agree completely. Heaven help anyone who questions anything Maori or even worse, states a simple obvious fact. There is no such thing as Maori science. It’s either science or it isn’t. Why on earth we would want to emulate anything and everything Maori is beyond me. They are at the bottom of the heap in all meaningful statistics. That seems to be the way to equality. Just dumb everybody down to the lowest common denominator.
A powerful and thoughtful rebuttal of the anti science scientists and so called academics that dissed the Magnificent Seven.
Excerpt:
The open letter is particularly remarkable for the fact that Dr Shaun Hendy and Dr Siouxsie Wiles have both been deeply involved in the government’s Covid strategies and management since the beginning of the pandemic, including regularly discussing the topic in public. But here they are castigating their academic peers who are defending scientific methodology.
The doozy in their open letter has to be this paragraph:
“The professors present a series of global crises [including Covid] that we must ‘battle’ with science — again failing to acknowledge the ways in which science has contributed to the creation of these challenges. Putting science on a pedestal gets us no further in the solution of these crises.”
Say what? As New Zealanders wait anxiously to have a shot of an effective vaccine created by legions of scientists worldwide, they are being told by the microbiologist named the New Zealander of the Year for her leadership through the Covid-19 response and the scientist whose predictions of possibly 80,000 deaths from Covid helped put the nation into lockdown in March 2020 that science is not paramount in the fight against Covid.
https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2021/08/03/the-attacks-on-seven-eminent-professors-over-a-listener-letter-in-which-they-championed-science-have-missed-their-target/
The fact you care deeply enough about the lunacy sweeping our nation to courageously write such compelling blogs tragically continues to set you apart from your peers Bob.
I notice the likes of Stuff and RNZ defer to Dr Siouxsie Wiles as if she is the sole expert in these matters. Not only is she incredibly irritating but I think she talks a lot of sanctimonious claptrap.
As for Hendy – why do the govt still go to him for data modelling when he was so ridiculously wrong in his 80,000 death prediction.
I far prefer listening to Prof Des Gorman. He tells it as it is, backs it with facts, and did say he would be happy to help the Govt if they requested so, He did add, however, that given his trenchant criticism this was most unlikely. Shame, his expertise would be invaluable.
As George Orwell said, “Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”
If the ridiculous ideas of academic intellectuals were confined to the university campuses, unable to infect the rest of society, they might be a source of entertainment — much like a circus.
Last night Alan Jones regaled this great little saying from a viewer, on his news slot in Oz:
“…..We Live In Times Where Smart People Are Silenced So That Stupid People Won’t Be Offended…..”
Definitely applies to this situation you write about here Sir Bob – and to a fair few more issues in NZ at the present time…!
Not only did Maori discover Antarctica but they are now being elevated to another level of magnificence by “Sharesies”,their latest newsletter is promoting an exclusive Maori based investment method.
TAHITO selects listed companies based upon
indigenous Māori values. We apply our
indigenous value set to measure relational
behaviours (Whanaungatanga) and
connectivity (Aroha). By building Aroha, a
business improves its Mauri (wellbeing).
Really?
Surely they were also first to the Moon?
A very good reason not to invest with them. I guess you could say to all those who do “You were warned.”
did like the samesies on you tube which had some similarities to these sharsies i thought.
I wouldn’t be stupid enough to use Sharesies but if I was, I would now be walking backwards, very quickly, given their TAHITO model referenced by SPT
The Vice-Chancellor’s use of “hurt and dismay” evoked the old CCP cliche “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people”. I thought academia was about debating ideas rather than silencing dissidents. Perhaps the Vice-Chancellor has plans to subject the Magnificent Seven to some kind of struggle session?
Truly disgraceful and deserves censure if not sacking. By its silence the University Council condemns itself.
New pronouns required
If you want a sense of where NZ academics are at regarding the scientific method consider the support this open response has garnered
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRwHTSKURHaalXZSNo2oluN9OjuDxK6UDG4gb6t7NhAPO3Zg/viewform
The Magnificent Seven’s letter to the Listener is attacking a government NCEA working group, which is proposing that mātauranga Māori should be in the school science curriculum as a kind of equal partner to science.
I wonder if you, the readers of this blog, are aware that the New Zealand Council of Legal Education is proposing that tikanga Māori be taught in each of the core law subjects in our universities’ LLB courses.
As mātauranga Māori is to science, so, surely, tikanga Māori is to our laws.
Please can we have 7 brave law professors and top practitioners to write a letter to the Listener?
The tikanga Maori stuff has been in the Auckland University Law School for a while. Back in the 1990s I believe there was some kind of law prerequisite paper. Students had to get pass this paper before entering the law school. A good chunk of it dealt with ‘Maori law’ (among other Maori stuff). Many students hated it, but once they were in the law school itself they could avoid it.
Sorry. I don’t understand whats going on here SB.
Are these people signing to say that they suggest Maori mythology is the equivalent of science?
Sorry I don’t understand what point is trying to be made here.
Can somebody explain to the dumb-arse’s like me?
I hope these “incredibly intelligent” people aren’t going along with what looks like emperors clothes madness !
Please clarify.
Actually really quite concerned, as this is starting to feel like the witch hunt trails …