A reaction to Dr. Simonet’s post
This blog post was written as a reaction to Dr. Simonet’s blog post. To read Dr. Simonet’s post click here.
By Dr. David R. Dewberry
The times, they are a changing. Bob Dylan released that song in early 1964. You know what happened in 1964? There was as announcement about plans to build two skyscrapers in New York City. A little boy band from Liverpool first appeared on American television. U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry became the first government official to claim that smoking is dangerous to one’s health.
That’s interesting. If smoking is harmful to your health, I guess we shouldn’t smoke, right? Somebody better tell the former chair of the Philosophy Department, Professor Guy Stroh. He’s the man smoking the pipe in Dr. Simonet’s posting. But lets assume he’s not smoking anything. I mean, I don’t see smoke, but I do see the deep ridges of a very professorial corduroy jacket–albeit with no leather elbow patches–so I’m assuming I’d see smoke if it was there.
Why then would he have a pipe? Perhaps the pipe is just a decorative accessory. Maybe he thought the pipe makes him look intellectual. Why would someone think a pipe causes him or her to look intellectual? Maybe it did, but it doesn’t now. I guess the times, they have changed. A pipe doesn’t make anyone more intellectual than another. It’s just a pipe.
So, what’s my argument about ties and one’s intellect? Just reread the preceding paragraph but replace the word “pipe” with “tie.” That’s what I have to say to about professors wearing ties.
But what about ties and professionalism? That is the core issue of Dr. Simonet’s posting.
Let’s take a closer look at the word “professional.” I’ll admit it does look like the word “professor.” But words that have similar spellings or prefixes don’t necessarily mean the words are similar. “Simonet” looks like “simonize,” so clearly Dr. Simonet must be a polisher of cars, no? He’d need rags for that. Good thing I have an extra tie around here somewhere he can use.
I think this article is kind of a stretch. Nowhere in Dr. Simonet’s article did it say a pipe is equivalent to professionalism. Only one picture showed one person smoking and just because it isn’t called out as a negative thing doesn’t imply that it is a positive quality. On top of that, the whole simonize > simonet comparison with professional/professor is not nearly as close a match and I would bet most people, myself included would not know the definition of simonize let alone that is a word at all.
It seems the author wants to say that he disagrees with the point of the original blog but has no actual opinion to back up that he thinks ties are about as useful as dish rags. Maybe try less to impress readers with your music taste and more with an actual response to the core of the article. Just my two cents.