You Don't Know Squat 

Alexandra Samuel has repsonded to her critics regarding the post which I mentioned earlier. Among other things she says:

And second, let me agree with all those who pointed out that political science is not a "real" science. I am always available for a long diatribe on this subject myself, and will happily sign on for a campaign to rename it political studies. My original post was aimed as much at deflating the significance of my own Ph.D. as at deflating Dr. Rice’s.

Well, at least she has that much straight. She also explains how her earlier post was really meant to be "tongue in cheek", and not a call for suspension of any free speech rights. However, I think she just doesn't get it. We're not talking about free speech here, or at least I wasn't. We're talking about advancement in your field. The only way to advance your field of study, whatever it is, is to question what you now believe, to see if it still is true. A PhD does not mean that you've learned everything there is to know in your field of study. It means that you are now truly qualified to realize that you don't know enough, or put another way:

If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?

- Thomas Henry Huxley