this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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In our recently submitted grants we had to change “traumatic brain injury” to “concussive brain injury” and “male and female mice” to “male and non-male mice” because traumatic and female are now verboten words that can get our grants killed. It’s insanity.

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[–] mostNONheinous@lemmy.world 207 points 5 days ago (5 children)

The party that swears there are only Two Genders really seems to only believe in One.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 56 points 5 days ago

Cede conservatives a fraction of an inch and they will take a hundred miles.

First they came for...

[–] red_bull_of_juarez@lemmy.dbzer0.com 42 points 5 days ago (2 children)

There are two genders. Male and political.

[–] Karjalan@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

And two races, white and political. And two sexualities, straight and political... Etc.

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[–] shplane@lemmy.world 58 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Had to change the wording in my grants from “biodiversity” to “biological variety”. I work in conservation. This is indeed insanity.

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[–] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 108 points 5 days ago (4 children)

This is why politics and science shouldn't mix. The truth is the truth, no matter how inconvenient it is to your bottom line.

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 136 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Politics and Science will literally always mix. Science always exists in a political context. It’s not some platonic ideal.

The research that gets funded, published, advertised. The people that have the privilege to get degrees and academia jobs. Is all inherently political. It’s maybe more obvious now with Trump’s meddling, but it literally always has been this way.

I think it’s dangerous to look at science (especially social sciences, political sciences, economics, sociology, psychology etc.) without considering the political context.

[–] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I understand that, my point was in an ideal world expert panels and not politicians would get the final say in policy-setting and funding decisions. My main example is the clusterfuck the NIH and health department has become under the lunatic in charge.

I understand that this stuff is inherently political, I had to pivot on the narrative of my own master's thesis because of the "interesting" results we generated

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (8 children)

But

  • Who decides who is the experts?
  • Who gets the opportunity to become an expert?
  • What are the experts taught at school?
  • Who picks the experts?

All this is political.

What you’re describing is technocracy. And it has major limitations.

[–] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago (2 children)

thats fair. I guess there is no such thing as a perfect system, there will always be conflict of interest and bias. I get your point too, just because someone is an expert in their field doesn't mean their knowledge translates to leadership and good judgement on funding decisions ect.

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[–] saddlebag@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I knee jerk upvoted the parent that this was responding to. Then I read your comment and I did a complete 180. This is obvious in retrospect and very insightful. Thanks

[–] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You can upvote good discussion and points that are wrong or you disagree with. I downvote assholes and people who add nothing to the discussion.

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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 4 days ago

Science has a huge shortcoming with desperate scientists wanting funding and making up just enough to keep it. The peer review process works when it's something that actually gets properly peer reviewed, but there's not much money in peer reviewing a claim that x molecule lowers your heart rate by 10%.

Science will be great if society ever got to the point of no longer needing money or barter. Which would happen due to science.

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 71 points 4 days ago (2 children)

So.....it......it was the conservatives that were snowflakes all along?

I did Nazi that coming.

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[–] frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world 52 points 4 days ago (6 children)

list of banned words btw

Activism, activists, advocacy, advocate, enhancing diversity, equal opportunity, equality, equitable, advocates, equity, ethnicity, barrier, barriers, biased, biased toward, biases, biases towards, BIPOC, Black and Latinx, excluded, female, females, fostering inclusivity, gender, gender diversity, genders, hate speech, Hispanic minority, community diversity, community equity, cultural differences, cultural heritage, historically, implicit bias, culturally responsive, implicit biases, disabilities, inclusion, disability, discriminated, discrimination, inclusive, minorities, minority, multicultural, polarization, political, prejudice, privileges, promoting diversity, race and ethnicity, racial, racial diversity, racial inequality, racial justice, racially, racism, sense of belonging, sexual preferences, social justice, sociocultural, socioeconomic status, stereotypes, systemic, inclusiveness, discriminatory, diverse backgrounds, inclusivity, increase diversity, increase the diversity, trauma, underappreciated, diverse communities, Indigenous community, underrepresented, diverse community, diverse group, inequalities, inequality, underserved, diverse groups, inequitable, diversified, inequities, diversify, diversifying, diversity and inclusion, diversity equity, institutional, LGBT, marginalize, marginalized, underrepresentation, underrepresented, underserved, undervalued, victim, women, underrepresented.

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Twenty years ago I was sitting in a city council meeting in middle Statesia where the city engineer was giving an estimate of traffic at an intersection. He described a liberal estimate (in this case the higher estimate) but led them that if he called it a liberal estimate they'd ignore it, so he was redefining conservative estimate to mean the opposite of what it does for all of his estimates just so they wouldn't dismiss them out of hand. And it worked, the dumbfucks on the city council liked the numbers just because he called them conservative.

[–] bear@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

They weren't sending their best

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 66 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Me trying to get grants for my rat trebuchet

[–] Tropic420@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Is it operated by rats or throwing rats?

[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 32 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Trebuchet of the rats, by the rats, for the rats.

[–] GreenCrunch@lemmy.today 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have two pet rats, and I'm pretty confident that they'd love a trebuchet. I could see one of them operating while the other is the ammunition.

Or, both operating with more conventional projectiles. Rats crave destruction and chaos. And also cuddles.

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[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 63 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Wait I thought it was Woke that was supposed to be policing what language we used?

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 29 points 4 days ago

Something, something, every accusation, a confession

[–] dalekcaan@feddit.nl 47 points 4 days ago

Well that's doubleplus ungood.

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 47 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (6 children)

When I was a teenager around my daughter’s age, pre 9/11, this kind of future was the kind of thing you would see in a ridiculous 80s dystopian action movie. We didn’t ever think we’d actually ever allow it to get that far as a society, surely we would rise up to oppose. It’s just wild to my old ass how far we have fallen and how much people just shrug.

I was watching the Netflix hunt for Osama docuseries. And Bin Laden totally won. After 9/11 the US turned on its own people and used the modern technology of the military to set up a mass surveillance system and a way to easily do shit like this. And people allowed it while chanting “USA!” This is all part of it.

On a side note, i can’t wait till The Running Man becomes Reality once Trump starts throwing migrants into a life or death reality show where they’re hunted by neo Nazi ice agents

[–] treesapx@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

And Bin Laden totally won.

I've been pointing this out for about ten years now and it's one of the most unpopular comments I can make, but it only gets more true every year. I've watched police get more authoritarian for decades now and there doesn't seem to be anything curtailing it.

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago

Most powerful nation in the history of mankind and we folded like a cheap suit after some planes flew into some buildings.

It's important to note that a significant cause of our downfall is due to traitors within, including propaganda networks, that took advantage of that incident.

And I was in high school when 9/11 happened too. Watching this all happen in real time has been a pretty sad affair. I don't have much faith left in this nation, nor do I have much patriotism left. I just don't think we've earned a continued democracy. We aren't up to the challenge.

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

The entire rest of the world could always see how proud you were of your "great democracy" and how fragile and inflated it actually was. Took you all a long time to finally to see it too.

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[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 38 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Tell me this: if you were watching a movie and men in black masks were taking people off the street and sending them off, never to be seen again, and those same men were separating children from parents forcibly and locking them all in cages/compounds for months on end....

Would those people in this hypothetical movie, strike you as "good" guys, or "bad" guys?

Because that's what's happening, in real life, in the USA, right now.

Cue the "are we the baddies?" meme.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's not that meme, they will never have that moment of revelation because they enjoy what they are doing, and signed up for the chance to hurt others

Humanity contains monsters and we need to stop pretending it doesn't

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[–] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 29 points 4 days ago

A healthy, broadly educated population, which feels safe and secure, are incompatible with, and toxic to, conservative and authoritarian ideologies.

They need you to be sick, stupid, and scared.

[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 58 points 5 days ago (5 children)

I went through some of my papers partially supported by US grants and all of them use a bunch of forbidden words. This is basically pure maths, and you are not allowed to use "equality" as in the relationship between one expression and another is an equality? It is so increadibly stupid. Look:

A dangerous sign of wokeness

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 27 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

Me frantically going through all my Maths papers to replace the equal sign with “Is Equivalent to”

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[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 15 points 5 days ago

That’s so fucking asinine

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[–] BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 days ago

How DARE they Assume Mice can be MORE then just Male AND Female! NONMALE means ANYTHING THATS NOT MALE you Stupid Libtards Commies!

-A Happy Republican Voter who just Lost their Medicaid and SNAP Benefits and saw their Toddler get Deported!

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 49 points 5 days ago (1 children)

So it now includes non-binary mice!

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[–] mvirts@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Thank you for participating in the latest moral race to the bottom

[–] jsomae@lemmy.ml 33 points 5 days ago

God, that's so right-woke.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

wake up babe, new politically correct has dropped

literally PC culture gone mad

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmings.world 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

And we should definitely call it "Politically correct" speech, because that's what it is. They liflke to accuse the left of being politically correct, so let's turn it back on them.

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[–] LanguageIsCool@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Conservatives are fucking morons lmao

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[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

real men don't have trauma and women don't exist. case dismissed.

[–] CMahaff@lemmy.world 23 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I watched an interesting video recently on "Lysenkoism".

https://youtu.be/9RTAcbsQXFE

In short, it's a horrible example of what happens when party politics are more important than correct science. And it should all feel very familiar to what's happening in the US right now.

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[–] Allemaniac@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

cool to read that you lot use "verboten" as a legit word

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

I'm french and I use verboten too, it's in our genes to be scared of German words I think

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 4 days ago

Yeah that's what happens when "science" is based on capitalism, fascism, etc. It's just more explicit now.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 days ago

Instead of "Leftwing" and "Rightwing", we should just use "Alpha" and "Beta" respectively, just like they wanted. 🤭

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