http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_tower
I've spent my time in Academia as both student
and teacher.
My personal observations on teachers:
- Some were just good students who got good
grades. They simply cannot teach. They
accepted the teaching position because
they probably needed the money or the
experience.
- They may be experts in one field, but are
horrible in other fields (Sometimes lacking
even common sense.).
- They have their own biases.
In other words, teachers are human too! Though
some I've met pretended to be a demi-god of sorts.
In these cases, Lord Acton's quote "Power
corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
applies. Hence I'm a believer in a "checks and
balances" system.
And what was your life in Academia like?