The great irony of academia is that the only type of diversity that matters—intellectual diversity—is virtually absent. Who cares about skin color, genitalia, ethnicity, or sexual proclivity? As for why conservatives are so poorly represented in academia, there are many reasons. Among them are:
- Conservatives are practitioners, not theoreticians. They want to make the world a better place, not merely speculate about what would make it a better place.
- Conservatives are risk-preferring or risk-neutral, not risk-averse, and so are unlikely to be drawn to a secure environment shaped by tenure and bureaucracy.
- Conservatives are made to feel like outcasts and so choose to stay out.
- Conservatives are kept out by those who want an echo chamber rather than vibrant debate.
What I don't understand is why any self-respecting progressive would want to live in an echo chamber. For one thing, it makes your analytical and argumentative muscles atrophy. Many progressives have lost the capacity (if they ever had it) to analyze, argue, and criticize, which is how truth is discovered. For another thing, it's boring. Even when I was a progressive, I wanted conservatives in my midst to enliven my mind. Now that I'm a conservative, I have plenty of progressives in my midst. I am never bored.
