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 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
No, you pretty much summed it up. The administration were pretty much business as usual, and most professors were devoted to their own academic niches. The student body, as well as the aging hippy population native to the area but not actually involved with the university, as well as some highly motivated agitators from Oakland and SF...they were very political.

So basically it's a university with the absolute worst townies in the country.

...and I thought our 40-something unemployed alumni getting DUI's during football season was sad.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:

Considering we have a forum with a 'no politics' rule, I am deliberately dumbing down the example to a simple form

Oh. Okay.

It may be a 'coincidence', but there was also he combination of the gentleman professor being considerably rude (and I was not the only person that had a complaint against him). For all I know, I caught him on a bad day or he was beyond the point of giving a damn what they did to him for speaking his mind.

Well I've certainly experienced professors who are quite smug, but I doubt that is politics as much as simple arrogance. One history professor I knew had one hell of a chip on his shoulder and seemed to resent anyone who actually knew the answers to his more obscure/complex questions. I knew one because I'd played Medieval II Total War and he thought I was lying about where I learned about the long bow, which I didn't thing was a particularly hard to learn detail about the Battle of Agincourt. Another class I had with him focused on the Unification of Germany, which none of us knew jack about, and wow was he smug about it XD

Some real doozies in the History books, too.

My grad class spent an entire afternoon once looking over examples our professor brought from various history text books, cause history text books in general are littered with errors, or at least things that are thought/accepted to be errors today. Part of it is that a lot of the core text used for such books was generated back in the late 50s and early 60s and major companies, like McGraw-Hill, never really bother adapting it. When I was in highschool my text book for Civics was written in 1976. Pretty surreal how different things are looked at today relative to when that was written.

 LordofHats wrote:

Well I've certainly experienced professors who are quite smug, but I doubt that is politics as much as simple arrogance. One history professor I knew had one hell of a chip on his shoulder and seemed to resent anyone who actually knew the answers to his more obscure/complex questions. I knew one because I'd played Medieval II Total War and he thought I was lying about where I learned about the long bow, which I didn't thing was a particularly hard to learn detail about the Battle of Agincourt. Another class I had with him focused on the Unification of Germany, which none of us knew jack about, and wow was he smug about it XD

Oh, you would have giggled yourself red if you'd been with me having some discussions with other students about countries they've never been to and people they've never met, because despite me living in that country and spending time with those people and eating at their tables- I wouldn't know anything about it according to someone who reworded a Wikipedia article and used the 'source-snagging' method to make it look like their own research.

Oh, and FYI- this was community college and even that kind of work was beneath their standards.

 LordofHats wrote:
My grad class spent an entire afternoon once looking over examples our professor brought from various history text books, cause history text books in general are littered with errors, or at least things that are thought/accepted to be errors today. Part of it is that a lot of the core text used for such books was generated back in the late 50s and early 60s and major companies, like McGraw-Hill, never really bother adapting it. When I was in highschool my text book for Civics was written in 1976. Pretty surreal how different things are looked at today relative to when that was written.

These were new enough to have an entire chapter about our most recent president (and no, that's not the problem- I actually liked the guy).

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


EDIT: I am not intending to slam USC. It is a good school. Its just not UCLA or UC Berkeley level.

So nothing you'd spend $70 million to get your kid in?

exactly. They should spend $70mm on ME!!!*
Now if I had the cash, $70mm to get into Stanford? Oh yea.


*As I have told the kids many times, the first one to buy me a fully restored Vought F4U Corsair with full auto paint ball guns...WINS!


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 LordofHats wrote:

 Vaktathi wrote:
You know, for all my time in community colleges, liberal arts schools, and universities, I don't once recall ever having a professor rail against the evils of capitalism, nor know ever have a class with a former activist as a teacher, nor did I know anyone who was under the impression that entrance into colleges and universities did not entail a notable degree of corruption, particularly at the big-name level. The nepotism has always been acknowledged, the entire concept of "legacies" openly ridiculed even while being indulged in.

The fastest way to know who a) never went to college, or b) sucked at college, is to see how long it takes them to start ranting about political bias at colleges. Which isn't to say there isn't any, but I've been to three different college campus' in my life, and I wouldn't say any of them were anymore political than anywhere else I've ever been. Not every campus is Berkeley. Most of them are pretty mundane places.

I think the big shock here is more about the absurdity involved in this particular instance. There's a lot of it

To be fair, while the self-aware are not shocked by this at all, I think there's probably lots of people out there who are because this is counter to how we presume these processes to work. I do think people erroneously believe admission systems to be more meritorious than they really are.

I've been to four, and paid the bills for two more. My Cali undergrad was more political in that there were marches every week, but it was pretty much just a nice social activity.
U Texas is more political than my schools, and more political than A & M by a good bit. They also have fratboy problems. Is there a relationship? On the other hand they have a building with real cool 3D printers you can make stuff in.


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 Adeptus Doritos wrote:

 Vaktathi wrote:
You know, for all my time in community colleges, liberal arts schools, and universities, I don't once recall ever having a professor rail against the evils of capitalism, nor know ever have a class with a former activist as a teacher, nor did I know anyone who was under the impression that entrance into colleges and universities did not entail a notable degree of corruption, particularly at the big-name level. The nepotism has always been acknowledged, the entire concept of "legacies" openly ridiculed even while being indulged in.

Oh, were I less concerned about being harassed IRL by some of the people on this page, I'd invite you to my local college. And this is not in a 'blue state' or even a 'blue city'.

To summarize one of my first experiences in a certain class:

PROF: "Water is not wet."

ME: "I'm not sure I understand. But according to the definition, water is wet and with this water I can show you that it is demonstrably wet."

PROF: "I am using an abstract definition of 'wet' that does not match the English Webster's definition of 'wet', therefore you are now wrong and suddenly your essay barely passes despite the trend of significantly higher marks for essays you put less effort into."

ME: "I would like to speak with you after class."

PROF: "No."

Had it not been for a very helpful veteran-supportive Ombudsman, I'd have had more problems. Fortunately I was able to drop this class and get something different with a sane professor.

And yeah, the people who buy education are openly acknowledged by most sensible people. Just as much as we knew in high school why Butterfingers Bubba that could barely spell his name was a starting wide receiver with a B+ average in every class, and the actual talented athletes were on the sidelines. I'm just shocked that despite years of me and others saying "We need to do a thorough review and audit of every educational institution in the country from the Preschools to Universities", people act like we're asking for witch-pyres and Year Zero initiatives.


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 LordofHats wrote:
The fastest way to know who a) never went to college, or b) sucked at college, is to see how long it takes them to start ranting about political bias at colleges. Which isn't to say there isn't any, but I've been to three different college campus' in my life, and I wouldn't say any of them were anymore political than anywhere else I've ever been. Not every campus is Berkeley. Most of them are pretty mundane places..

And those folks buying their kids' way into Harvard certainly would claim that there was no financial corruption in schools, that it was perfectly fair and anyone who thought otherwise had no real experience and was just too stupid to get into Harvard.

Amazing how things are 'just dandy' when it makes you feel good and works to your benefit, isn't it?

I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

 Frazzled wrote:
I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

I want to sit with your dad in the garage with a case of beer and a newspaper. I bet there's some interesting things he has to say.

Ah, yes, Samuel Johnson's argument. It has a certain appeal, but it doesn't actually address the professor's argument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_stone

The fact that your professor wasn't willing to go through with it suggests that he doesn't really believe Bishop Berkeley's* theory of immaterialism, but doesn't tell you if it's true or not.

*after whom the city and university in California are named.

Maybee he thinks more along the scenario of the brain in a jar, he would still feel pain in that scenario so ehh.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

I want to sit with your dad in the garage with a case of beer and a newspaper. I bet there's some interesting things he has to say.

He was a very interesting cat.

Not Online!!! wrote:
Maybee he thinks more along the scenario of the brain in a jar, he would still feel pain in that scenario so ehh.

As it happens, brains do not contain any pain nerve cells. This makes it possible to do brain surgery on conscious subjects using local anaesthetic on the skin and meninges.

It also means you could hit a brain in a jar with a brick and it would not feel anything, even if material reality actually existed.

 Kilkrazy wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
Maybee he thinks more along the scenario of the brain in a jar, he would still feel pain in that scenario so ehh.

As it happens, brains do not contain any pain nerve cells. This makes it possible to do brain surgery on conscious subjects using local anaesthetic on the skin and meninges.

It also means you could hit a brain in a jar with a brick and it would not feel anything, even if material reality actually existed.

The brain in a Jar is a supposed mindexperiment.
Basically irl you are nothing but a Brain in a jar, that get's a reallife simulated.
Even tough you technically don't exist you think you do because your life is simulated as if you would exists.

It has nothing to do with Nerves etc.

Edit: in english it's brain in avat, i just searched it.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


EDIT: I am not intending to slam USC. It is a good school. Its just not UCLA or UC Berkeley level.

So nothing you'd spend $70 million to get your kid in?

I think Fraz would spend $70 million renaming a school to "Weinerdog Technical University" before he spent that money on something as mundane as sending his kid to said school

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


EDIT: I am not intending to slam USC. It is a good school. Its just not UCLA or UC Berkeley level.

So nothing you'd spend $70 million to get your kid in?

I think Fraz would spend $70 million renaming a school to "Weinerdog Technical University" before he spent that money on something as mundane as sending his kid to said school

Well now I know what I am doing if I win the big Lotto tomorrow...

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

But what about the eagle that flew into the room and perched atop the American Flag and shed a tear on the chalk?

 Frazzled wrote:
He was a very interesting cat.

Sorry to hear that he passed- or rather, sorry that he passed before more people got to know how awesome he was in person.

So, that being said my next beer is for him. Semper Fidelis.

 Galas wrote:
But what about the eagle that flew into the room and perched atop the American Flag and shed a tear on the chalk?

Eagles don't cry, they secrete gun oil from their eyes when they think about killing terrorists.

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

Well, "there is no reality, just perception" is possibly the most inane way of phrasing the concept so I find it difficult to fault weinerdog granddad.

So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

lol are you saying this system is rigged?!

Those people all pulled or had their bootstraps pulled for them, fair and square.

Wow, this didn't take long to involve politics

No it didn't did it, please cut out the political chatter. If you can not discuss the issue without involving politics then please don't post.

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

No. It means arguing sillingness to people who have seen things is stupid (well plus Dad was a bit crazy). The Wife had the same problem in her masters in social work. You had professors who never worked in the field that would say ivory tower nonsense to their students, when a third of the students had been in the industry and would call them on their bs.

Thats why I liked night classes the best. These were part timers teaching the classes who actually worked in the field and didn't spiel nonsense.


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 Galas wrote:
But what about the eagle that flew into the room and perched atop the American Flag and shed a tear on the chalk?

Funny you should say that. The UT Tower Girl lays her first egg of 2019!
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/ut-tower-girl-lays-first-egg-of-2019-giving-conservationists-hope/1808924251


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 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

Some of them are supercool though, like MIT.
UT just helped discover two more planets.
Aggieville has its own tank!

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

Depends entirely on the subject.

 Dreadwinter wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

lol are you saying this system is rigged?!

Those people all pulled or had their bootstraps pulled for them, fair and square.

Get a pair of bootstraps, put them in place, pull hard and see how high you get off the ground.

Having your bootstraps pulled by others is the only way it works.

This makes it clear why some parties are all about the bootstraps...

 Vulcan wrote:

Get a pair of bootstraps, put them in place, pull hard and see how high you get off the ground.

Having your bootstraps pulled by others is the only way it works.

This makes it clear why some parties are all about the bootstraps...

Well if you're not smart enough to tie shoelaces and have to wear velcro straps on your shoes- you're probably going to spend most of your life using simple tools with no moving parts or sharp edges, just saying (this is a joke about the phrase, not you specifically).

And all jokes aside, it's odd you say that because in the United States it's assessed that around 70% of millionaires are self-made. So I reject the notion that the only way to get anywhere is to take it from someone else.

Also, the sad truth is that a lot of success that leads to wealth depends entirely on making risky decisions, decisions that can very often lead to financial loss- sometimes outright ruin. A lot of people aren't willing to do that, which is understandable.

The thing is, I've never had anyone yanking my bootstraps or underwear band or any other garment to put me somewhere to succeed- I'm also not rich, but I pay the bills and live comfortably enough to enjoy a few pleasant things once all my needs are taken care of. Certainly, I will not be able to own a new sports car (at least not without making some serious budgeting adjustments which I don't think are worth the sports car), and I won't own a mansion (because I could honestly live happily in a one-bedroom cabin), and I certainly feel no need to keep up with the Joneses and the things I enjoy are usually simple small things. Everything I have- I worked for, I earned it, and nothing was handed to me. The only thing I have ever been given was one piece of property I inherited which actually was a financial burden because of ludicrous inheritance and property taxes- I had to actually sell the property just to cover those taxes and I think I walked away with just enough to get a new sofa so I considered it a win.

And while I won't speculate on your situation because I know all people have their very own individual circumstances... I can tell you that I've seen lots of people who believe they are in a bad spot and struggling simply because they cannot afford a flashy new device, or they mismanage their finances and do not prioritize things, or they simply have this idea that being successful means wearing a ten thousand dollar suit and living in a massive penthouse apartment.

Nah, in my opinion success is a matter of personal satisfaction. I lenjoy my job, I'm happy with my home, I have a few small luxuries, no debts, and a reliable vehicle. Even in the material sense, I feel like I'm a wealthy man.


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 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So we are a pretty much in agreement that higher up colleges are just old boys clubs facilitating the nepotism and cronyism in the higher part of are govt though right?

It should come as a shock to no one that anyone can be bought for the right price.

The parents can be called scum for trying to buy their kids' way into a University. But then again, when you love your children enough- you do everything in your power to help them succeed. I just think that some parents don't stop and consider the consequences of doing that, and how that isn't really helping their child. I mean, you can tell your kid that he's a fantastic athlete and buy his way onto the football team, but he's gonna realize you were full of sh*t when he gets destroyed on the field and embarrasses himself.

The University can be called scum just as well- because if you're trying to claim you're producing the best and the brightest, and you're letting people buy that kind of prestige rather than actually earning it.. then you can pretty much consider your credibility in the toilet, and credibility is one of those things that is a bit harder to buy than a Yale admission.

I mean... it's not like these kids were gonna actually use these degrees, though. Let's be real.

Ultimately, doesn't almost everyone in the US buy their way into college?

 Easy E wrote:
Ultimately, doesn't almost everyone in the US buy their way into college?

In the sense that we usually pay tuition, yes.

But not in the sense that our parents bribed their way past the admission process.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

No. It means arguing sillingness to people who have seen things is stupid (well plus Dad was a bit crazy). The Wife had the same problem in her masters in social work. You had professors who never worked in the field that would say ivory tower nonsense to their students, when a third of the students had been in the industry and would call them on their bs.

Thats why I liked night classes the best. These were part timers teaching the classes who actually worked in the field and didn't spiel nonsense.

Ah. I had some that did, though they weren't as bad as the pure ivory tower folks. My granting writing 'practice' in management courses was terrible, it was effectively an exercise in pure nonsense that would never get passed, because we were encouraged to just make up BS numbers rather than offend the professors sensibilities (that most 50/50 grants from government programs would be forced to hire people part time and not bother to pay health insurance because they wouldn't be able to afford their half of the grant to get the matching funds). Yet she'd insist we write in three full-time employees with full benefits rather than one full and two part time, which was far more common in our field, though often a lot of places put up with one full and one part, or just one.

But yeah, in other courses I'd be the 'had work in the field' student and listen to a torrent of nonsense about what professionals would 'never do' and things that 'just weren't done that way.' They didn't like being told that most active work sites routinely did things 'that way,' and almost no one adopted the latest standard because the rest of their system wasn't set up that way and it would cost too much money and man-hours to change, and they didn't have enough of either.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

No. It means arguing sillingness to people who have seen things is stupid (well plus Dad was a bit crazy).

Why? Whether you think something is silly or not is irrelevant. Anyone reacting to well-established, and frequently-employed philosophical concepts, in a philosophy class no less, whether or not they personally think it's worthwhile or valid or nonsensical obfuscation, with 'I'll hit you with a thing hahaha' probably shouldn't be in education.

nfe wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

No. It means arguing sillingness to people who have seen things is stupid (well plus Dad was a bit crazy).

Why? Whether you think something is silly or not is irrelevant. Anyone reacting to well-established, and frequently-employed philosophical concepts, in a philosophy class no less, whether or not they personally think it's worthwhile or valid or nonsensical obfuscation, with 'I'll hit you with a thing hahaha' probably shouldn't be in education.

Thats a rather silly position to take just because you don't like someone's argument. And yes, it is a fairly valid counter point to the statement of "There is no reality, only perception". Its just been phrased is a direct and crude manner.

Philosophy, among other subjects, is rather stuffed full of nonsense like that statement. People who are too deep into it really need to be brought back to reality sometimes, and that really goes for all intellectuals.

 Grey Templar wrote:

nfe wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:


I had the interesting experience in that for a short period of time Dad and I were going to the same school, and even took the same philosophy professor (at different times during the day). When the professor brought up an argument that there is no reality, just perception, Dad sparked up and asked is he picked up the desk and hit him over the head with it, it wouldn't be real? Dad offered to test the theory. The prof asked me later and I reminded him Dad was in Korea, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a former DI. Yes he absolutely would have...

See, I always wonder - do people think this kind of story makes them look good? Like "hurr hurr, them snotty inturlekshooals made an argument I dunt like, so I said I'd smash 'em inna conkers!" doesn't make the professor look like the bad buy, at least to anyone sane.

No. It means arguing sillingness to people who have seen things is stupid (well plus Dad was a bit crazy).

Why? Whether you think something is silly or not is irrelevant. Anyone reacting to well-established, and frequently-employed philosophical concepts, in a philosophy class no less, whether or not they personally think it's worthwhile or valid or nonsensical obfuscation, with 'I'll hit you with a thing hahaha' probably shouldn't be in education.

Thats a rather silly position to take just because you don't like someone's argument. And yes, it is a fairly valid counter point to the statement of "There is no reality, only perception". Its just been phrased is a direct and crude manner.

Philosophy, among other subjects, is rather stuffed full of nonsense like that statement. People who are too deep into it really need to be brought back to reality sometimes, and that really goes for all intellectuals.

Yeah, but saying something like "If I hit you with this desk" is the kind of thing that gets you removed from a classroom, and for good reason too.