# A Pit thread for Asahi **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 4, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944 "2019-02-04T14:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/241 "2021-09-14T22:21:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I _know_ you’re not stupid enough Well… sometimes the simple answer is the correct answer. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/242 "2021-09-20T12:19:06Z")
Is there a term for the mental or emotional issue, that one must surely have, to post the below in the van lifer thread? I am truly just astounded by his pronouncement of: “Um, I fuckin told you all it was a murder.” This is such a ridiculous statement in that thread and expresses a need for something that I truly do not understand. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/243 "2021-09-20T12:33:37Z")
Trump-level narcissism? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/244 "2021-09-20T12:56:24Z")
JFC, asahi. You’re not the smartest person in the room if you feel compelled to claim that you’re the smartest person in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/245 "2021-09-20T13:02:30Z")
What if he were to declare himself a “stable genius”? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/246 "2021-09-20T13:18:18Z")
I’d wonder if he’d been taking horse dewormer. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/247 "2021-09-20T13:42:35Z")
IIRC, asahi sometimes posts under the influence. That’s a bad idea and hopefully he’s trying to stop. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/248 "2021-09-20T14:18:33Z")
Message boards are pretty good for figuring out who the smartest posters are without those good folks proclaiming themselves as such. Once on another board long ago, someone argued that it was necessary for him to announce his brilliance because if he didn’t, stupid posters might not realize the “fact.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/249 "2021-09-20T20:46:15Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > those areas it is a far bigger threat than crazy Republicans who have approximately zero influence on (or presence in) academia. My God, where do you even live to make such an absurd statement? Look, you already admitted ignorance to how Republicans work in this post. That’s a start, but you need to fight the level of ignorance which makes you say such a thing but two paragraphs after you admitted your ignorance. Bet the business schools of the USA are dying for Republicans! Same thing with the engineering and sciences - no Republicans there! Won’t find a single Republican at the University of Chicago, Wharton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Nope, not a one! And you DEFINITELY won’t find Republicans at the state schools - why the University of Alabama is so fuggin’ Red they’re _crimson_. Holy hell. Stop commenting on my country or I’ll start commenting on yours. Now, what is a good TV show that will tell me ALL about it? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/250 "2021-09-20T20:51:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Now, what is a good TV show that will tell me ALL about it? Not a TV show but a movie, I just watched _In the Loop_ (2009) last night and would recommend it. Although it bashes the US too. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/251 "2021-09-20T20:53:38Z")
After I watch it, can I spend 20 posts arguing to Britons that Eton is, _unknown to them_, actually a school for the privileged? Gonna rewatch _The Crown_ as I’m sure it gives an illuminating view of how ordinary Britons live. Like, in ‘the Midlands’, or someplace equally charming sounding. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/252 "2021-09-20T21:08:55Z")
Oh, sorry _In the Loop_ is about the diplomatic runup to the Iraq War. Nothing to do with schools, but it is a satire of government. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/253 "2021-09-20T21:17:32Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Not a TV show but a movie, I just watched _In the Loop_ (2009) last night and would recommend it. Although it bashes the US too. If you enjoyed that you might want to try watching _The Think of It_, the TV series it was based on. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/254 "2021-09-20T21:20:59Z")
I said I care about facts and science, not Business Schools. And I was basing my post on survey data: > **[Homogenous: The Political Affiliations of Elite Liberal Arts College Faculty...](https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/31/2/homogenous_the_political_affiliations_of_elite_liberal_arts_college_faculty)** ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/255 "2021-09-20T21:22:52Z")
Yes, you chose a survey which, almost by its sample of ‘elite liberal arts institutions’, is going to lean ‘left’. I mean, look at the schools the author ‘surveyed’: > **[The 10 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges)** > > See how the top national liberal arts colleges rank at U.S. News. Find rankings for the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S. > [@](#): > > ## Here are the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S. > > - [Williams College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-0) > - [Amherst College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-1) > - [Swarthmore College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-2) > - [Pomona College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-3) > - [Wellesley College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-4) > - [Bowdoin College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-5) > - [United States Naval Academy](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-6) > - [Claremont McKenna College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-7) > - [Carleton College](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges#school-8) All of them very small institutions. None of them State schools. Even excluded the Ivy Leagues. It’s a bullshit survey which had the author purposely select _the most liberal schools in America_ in order to make his flawed argument. And had you lived here, you would not have made yet _another_ embarrassing mistake because you would have recognized these schools. Congratulations. You again proved my point. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/256 "2021-09-20T21:41:44Z")
Perhaps you’d prefer this one: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40823273\_Politics\_and\_Professional\_Advancement\_Among\_College\_Faculty](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40823273_Politics_and_Professional_Advancement_Among_College_Faculty) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/257 "2021-09-20T21:41:49Z")
Not going to do the math, but I bet the University of Texas _San Antonio_ has more students (32k) than the above list combined. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/258 "2021-09-20T21:46:36Z")
The last link is about faculty, total 1643. UTSA faculty, 1322. ETA: Looking at the actual paper it is based on a 1999 North American Academic Study Survey (Angus-Reid). They randomly picked 183 American/Canadian institutions from that survey, stratified by the type of institution (81 doctoral, 59 comprehensive, and 43 liberal arts). The 1643 faculty were sampled by randomly choosing a number of faculty from each institution proportional to their size. The paper does not list the schools, presumably you would have to go to (what is now) Ipsos which I’m too lazy to do. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/259 "2021-09-20T21:57:41Z")
Nevertheless **DemonTree** your cite is outdated, its data literally belongs to a different century. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944/260 "2021-09-20T22:31:22Z")
OK, last post about education to this poster… Again, if you lived here and went to school in the United States, or if you had to spend the time and effort preparing a child for secondary education in the United States, you would not be making this same mistake. Let’s look at how that 2nd link constructed its survey: > [@](#): > > The American sample includes 1643 faculty members drawn from 183 universities and colleges. The sample of institutions is stratified by institution type according to the Carnegie classifications of doctoral, comprehensive, and liberal arts schools. The data set contains responses from 81 doctoral, 59 comprehensive Rothman, Lichter, and Nevitte: Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty 3 Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2005 and 43 liberal arts institutions. Within each stratum, institutions were randomly selected from the universe of qualified institutions, with probability of selection proportional to size of faculty and student body combined. Full-time faculty members were then randomly chosen from each institution in numbers proportionate to its size. The response rate among the American faculty was 72%. (BTW, Carnegie does not have a ‘liberal arts’ classification and their website explicitly notes this. But US News categorizes some of the Carnegie classifications as ‘liberal arts’, so here we are.) Looking at this, a non-American may think this is an actual representative sample of American universities. But, again, two things are wrong with it: - In terms of # of American universities, ‘liberal arts’ schools are overweighted in the 2nd study by [50%](https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2179/Liberal-Arts-Colleges.html). The percentage of American universities which meet the US News classification of ‘liberal arts’ (derived from Carnegie, of course) is 15.4%. However, this study has liberal arts schools as 23.4% of their sample size. Again, if you purposely weight your study so that ‘liberal’ schools are overrepresented, you’re going to find that schools are liberal. Duh. - Again, like the other study, this only goes to number of schools. As I noted, the total number of students going to these liberal arts schools may fill up two University of Texas campuses. If you can find a study which does this calculation based not on selective criteria purposely designed to bring about a pre-desired result but a broader study based on a more reasonable metric… like student population ‘affected’, one which gives the proper weight to the various state and private and religious four-year colleges which abound in this country… this argument might hold water. But by selecting two surveys so obviously biased towards the sort of school your average American does _not_ attend, you do no credit to your argument. And, again, this mistake is born of not understanding America. Anyway, watched the first episode of _The Crown_ and all I have to say that if Buckingham Palace didn’t have to house all those servants, it could be much smaller. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pit-thread-for-asahi/828944.md?page=14)