The NYTimes printed an interesting article about sociology, written in response to David Riesman’s death.

[cypherpunk login for nytimes: c1ph3rpunk/c1ph3rpunk]

My research is on technology, privacy, identity, individual perception of self/community, etc. And while i know that i want to continue my education into my Ph.D., i have no idea what field i should be studying in, or with whom. Computer Science? Sociology? Media Studies? Communications? Anthropology? Information Sciences? Frankly, i find the whole separation of disciplines aspect of academia disheartening, confusing and utterly aggrevating. Of course, this gets magnified by what is considered valuable to fund (science of course, particularly military-related research). I find this quite problematic, as though there only valid ways of thinking are scientific. Not everything can be understood by measurement, and much of what can’t be measured is still quite valuable. Maybe at a core, everything can be measured, but we aren’t at that core and there are useful ways of understanding the world outside of that which can be measured.

The idea of a society that only values one train of thought is quite disturbing. The most intriguing ideas have always come from a combination of thoughts, a well-rounded perspective for thinking.