Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

few things are more terrifying than when the trivia kings try to start one-upping you once they know you cover the subjects they memorize. I'm always left to think...folks, only one of us here isn't doing this for free

One thing that is more terrifying is when the same performative academics who praise "book reading" (i.e. being seen near the right books) dig into your Google scholar page -- only when working a takedown angle, of course -- to condemn your lack of "expertise"

Some of the most visibly and vociferously woke people, esp the "allies," are also among the most expertise-valuing, credentials-loving types you'll ever encounter, and it's heartbreaking because thinking yourself toward radical liberation should consist of anything but that

My takes on college-as-myth, performative reading, testing, and so on have produced some strange bedfellows between folks on both sides of the fence who are united by a shared love of making sure others know they are Elite and Better Than (born of insecurity, etc.)

And one can say, oh, you have the privilege of saying that book reading and test taking and academic titles are meaningless because you did all that. Sure, I did all of that and, like what I went through as a kid, I wouldn't wish the consequences on my worst enemy