The Silence of the STEMS

There have been many issues causing debate around our campus these past couple of months - Gr*noff Dinners, Brown Divest, you name it. More recently (and perhaps most importantly), however, one brave soul opened our eyes to what may be the most pressing problem facing the student body today: should STEM people be allowed to give their political views? When I first read Dear Blueno post #4011 (below) right before coming home from break, I thought it was a joke, but then I started giving it some more thought. Is there a chance that people like me, a budding CS concentrator, actually do not have the capacity to make informed decisions? To tackle my growing insecurities, I began making a list of pros and cons to help me decide whether it makes sense for those studying STEM disciplines to speak their minds. I started with the cons, as the post brought up some good points…  CON: The propensity of STEM concentrators to use “logic,” as described by the author of this post, can be dangerous. The very nature of liberalism is clearly threatened by anyone that hasn’t been studying political science at Brown. PRO: Perhaps STEM people can contribute ideas relating to science, technology, medicine, and economics, and who knows? Maybe those ideas will even line up with liberal views!CON: STEM people are annoying! All they can think about is their next physics lab or the all-nighter they’re about to pull for the CS project. They eat unhealthy food, they don’t shower, they sleep poorly. If they can’t even care about their own well-being, how can they possibly care about others?PRO: You could argue that a lot of these pre-meds, computer scientists, and engineers genuinely care about making the world a better place. I know it’s hard to picture, but students going to medical school might actually care about their patients. Those in STEM contribute technologies that further our society, even if the STEM people themselves are smelly.CON: Humanities people don’t know nuclear physics. Valid point, OP! What right do I have to tell you about your field if you don’t know anything about mine? Really can’t argue against this one.PRO: Democracy is a thing! If I’m reading this post correctly, it’s saying STEM people can’t give an informed political opinion, so logically (oops, I used the “l” word) we probably shouldn’t be trusted to vote. But giving voting rights to only a specific group educated in the humanities defies the nature of democracy! No worries, OP, sometimes I also forget we live in America.I have to say I still don’t have a clear answer to this question. For the time being, I might just shut my mouth until I know what I’m talking about in regards to politics. It’s a thought-provoking discussion, though, whether or not STEM concentrators are qualified to express their political views. Some people (Dear Blueno poster #4096) might say we shouldn’t be attending this school at all:At the end of the day, if we’ve learned anything from this debate, it’s that Dear Blueno really is the best way to get people thinking on this campus! Images via and via Matan Gans '22.