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Intellectual Freedom (media.piefed.zip)

submitted 5 months ago by FundMECFS@piefed.zip to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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Image: “The Evolution of Intellectual Freedom” — a comic strip by Jorge Cham (PHD Comics, © 2011)

A horizontal timeline with an upward-pointing Y-axis (implying increasing freedom) and a rightward X-axis (implying career progression). Six stages of academic life are illustrated with cartoon figures and speech bubbles, reading left to right:

1. Before Grad School — An enthusiastic young person in a green t-shirt raises one finger triumphantly, declaring: “I’m going to research whatever I want!”
2. Grad Student — A hunched figure sits stressed at a computer, mumbling: “I’m going to research whatever my professor wants!”
3. Assistant Professor — A harried woman in a purple dress rushes past clutching papers, saying: “I’m going to research whatever my tenure committee wants!”
4. Tenured Professor — An older bearded man relaxes comfortably in a large armchair, announcing: “I’m going to research whatever my grant committee wants!”
5. Emeritus Professor — A very elderly hunched figure with a walking stick raises a finger hopefully, beginning: “I’m going to research whatever I-”
6. A gravestone — Inscribed with “RIP” and the epitaph: “Research In Peace” — cutting off the Emeritus Professor mid-sentence.

The comic’s dark punchline: intellectual freedom never actually arrives.

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[–] rf_@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago

I think it’s grant committees dictating the research agenda all the way down. They’re after all the ones with the money.