# Scientific American disses Jedi **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309 "2021-09-25T04:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/1 "2021-09-25T04:08:38Z")
[An article in the Scientific American](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-term-jedi-is-problematic-for-describing-programs-that-promote-justice-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/) considers the Star Wars Jedi to be bad role models. > They are a religious order of [intergalactic police-monks](https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2015/10/9/9486477/jedi-coup-politics), prone to (white) saviorism and toxically masculine approaches to conflict resolution ([violent duels with phallic lightsabers](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lightsaber_duel), gaslighting by means of “[Jedi mind tricks](https://www.starwars.com/databank/jedi-mind-trick),” etc.). 😁 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/2 "2021-09-25T08:47:35Z")
The prequels more than proved they were misguided, arrogant, and blinded by their own pompous belief in their supreme infallibility. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/3 "2021-09-25T09:15:52Z")
heh play the old republic MMORPG you’ll like them even less … ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/4 "2021-09-25T10:31:47Z")
I’ve always considered them to be more telekinetic ninjas. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/5 "2021-09-25T11:34:08Z")
Which Luke pointed out in _The Last Jedi_. What I wished had happened is either: 1. Rey starts a new group of Force wielders with more sensible rules 2. Rey reads the founding documents and finds out that the Jedi started out fine, but power corrupts/misinterpretation through the centuries and restarts the Jedi with sensible rules Brian ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/6 "2021-09-25T12:47:21Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > telekinetic ninjas Band name! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/7 "2021-09-25T13:16:39Z")
I think “phallic” lightsabers is a bridge too far. What else are they supposed to look like? They are laser swords. They are a straight line. What else could they possibly look like? Are straight lines phallic? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/8 "2021-09-25T13:21:44Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dy40xASCl00/hqdefault.jpg "Spaceballs - I See Your Schwartz Is as Big as Mine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy40xASCl00) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/9 "2021-09-25T13:42:29Z")
Touché 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/10 "2021-09-25T15:59:03Z")
The authors have evidently had it with geek culture appropriation 😁 (And, apparently, with anything that may give favorable attention to a Disney property… I mean, really guys, do remind us for the twelfth time these are Disney trademarks and why that’s not good.) But seriously, yes, it is a bad acronym for labeling something we should aspire to… or that the corporate diversity officer has decided we must pretend to aspire to. As mentioned _the work itself party revolves around how wrong the Jedi were_. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/11 "2021-09-25T16:22:17Z")
JFC. I had to check if this wasn’t some sort of send up in The Onion. The fact that the article was even written and published in what is ostensibly a respected scientific journal shows two critical failures we see repeated over and over again: - Showcasing a children’s fantasy as an object lesson of what’s wrong with society is a failure of the education system and a waste of education on behalf of the authors and editors of the publication. - Progressives, in spite of good intentions, are absolute shite when it comes to naming and marketing their ideological principles. Which clever nitwit didn’t realize the field day that can be had with a social justice acronym of “JEDI”? FFS ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/12 "2021-09-25T16:41:54Z")
For all that the Jedi were flawed, they’re still really, really cool, and most people want to be one. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/13 "2021-09-25T16:58:05Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Progressives… What do they have to do with this? ![](https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa3pydWNtMXBqaDZ0c3NhZmtraTY0cGR6Y204ZGZ4b2g0aWkwOHYwbiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/ToMjGpyTnSjTTEIDBDO/giphy.gif "Thanks Obama GIF by hero0fwar - Find & Share on GIPHY") > [@Chronos](#): > > For all that the Jedi were flawed, they’re still really, really cool, and most people want to be one. Yup. They are characters in a story. They have flaws, aren’t perfect, make mistakes…should that be surprising to anyone? They’d be boring if they were perfect. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/14 "2021-09-25T17:15:36Z")
Jesus. This isn’t your father’s _Scientific American._ Nor mine. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/15 "2021-09-25T17:15:38Z")
“A thing is a phallic symbol if it’s longer than it’s wide.” –Melanie Safka ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/16 "2021-09-25T19:36:45Z")
If it’s wider than it is long, it’s just a sideways phallic symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/17 "2021-09-25T19:39:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > What do they have to do with this? “JEDI” is used as an acronym nowadays for “justice, equality, diversity, inclusion”. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/18 "2021-09-25T20:10:11Z")
Does that have anything to do with the topic of this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientific-american-disses-jedi/951309/19 "2021-09-25T20:30:59Z")
The title of the OP’s linked article is “Why the Term ‘JEDI’ Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion”. So yes.