Okay, let's try this

#TwoThingsCanBeTrue (Rust Edition):

a) Rust's lifetime syntax is the ugliest thing I've ever seen in a programming language. I mean, really? A singular quotation mark followed by a single letter, almost always encased in brackets? Horrible.

b) I don't think I've ever encountered a programming feature that matches the elegance of Rust's pattern matching expressions. The fact that they requires exhaustiveness checking at compile time. That they can destructure data, bind values to variables, and use conditional guards. Amazing for handling with optional values. I wish every language could have it.

Ooh, I like this. Is there already an equivalent to a #OppositeFeelings or #TwoThingsCanBeTrue tag that I should follow?

Okay, so let's remember something really difficult: two or more things can be true at the same time.

1. #Plagiarism is bad. It is deception. It is usually theft. In some cases it's an actual crime. You can plagiarize yourself (e.g.., by lying about the originality of a document). It's bad. If you defend plagiarism, you're either ignorant or have values about dishonesty and theft that I will probably never agree with.

2. Selective enforcement of rules is also a thing, and is also bad. It's a common way, historically, to target an individual or group for abuse or injustice.

I've seen arguments that #ClaudineGay has been the victim of #SelectiveEnforcement, because of her race/ethnicity and/or as part of a right-wing agenda against liberal ideology in higher ed. These arguments are very plausible.

I've also seen arguments that she lied for personal advancement. Having known a bunch of people in positions of power (including university administrators), this is also quite plausible.

Both can be true. One doesn't invalidate the other. They're not mutually exclusive.

These things have some implications, like:

If a person says Claudine Gay did something bad (assuming she's guilty of plagiarism; IDK) and should resign due to achieving her position through academic dishonesty, this does not necessarily mean that person is expressing racism.

If a person says Claudine Gay is the victim of a conservative witch hunt targeting liberals in ivy league administrations, this does not necessarily mean this person doesn't care about academic standards or honesty.

I know a lot of people want certainty, a solid take that wraps this whole situation up with no room for doubt. However, in this situation as in many others, no such take exists here. More than one thing is going on, so more than one thing can be true at the same time.

#CriticalThinking #ClaudineGayResigns #politics #highered #TwoThingsCanBeTrue #MaybeEvenMore