Customer Reviews

Disciplined Minds

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In a way it's obvious. In an industrial society, large organizations need some technically skilled people who can be relied upon to look after the organization's interests. Whether you're a lawyer, accountant, teacher, or whatever else -- to the extent that your work is unsupervised, information-intensive, and varied in its details, your employer counts on you not just to follow his direct orders, but to give yourself the orders he would have given had he been there on the scene, and to carry them out with technical skill.

It's also obvious that to act in accordance with the values of a large organization -- for instance, the value of "profit maximization" so common to the large corporation -- one must suppress one's natural values, the values one has held since childhood. (How many of us, as teenagers, got lumps in our throats at the thought of devoting our lives to profit maximization?) And, it only stands to reason that the institutions of higher learning that are most successful at producing people who are skilled at adopting "values to order" are the ones that select and train people who are good at suppressing their own values.

Somehow, though, what's not obvious is the logical consequence of these observations: that Harvard Law School, NYU Medical School, and just about every PhD program in the country are really, at their core, ideological boot-camps, where people are carefully winnowed and shaped into able servants of another person's ideology -- and where their own ideologies that might conflict with those of most employers are, to the extent any remain within them, mercilessly beaten out, so that upon graduation they all emerge pristine and ready to accept whatever goals their new employer assigns them.

In a century that has seen so many instances of technical competence being exercised in service of such ghastly idiologies -- whether one is speaking of Nazi scietists or Soviet economists or lawyers for tobacco companies who use the attorney-client priviledge to bury important scientific research -- especially now, we should have no illusions that values and technical skills are necessarily linked.

Yet some of us forget. And for those need it, this book is a great reminder.

Disciplines Minds is probably not the first book to note that academia serves monied interests, that monied interests need a steady stream of technically competent and ideologically unquestioning souls, and that graduate and professional school somehow seems much more brutal than it needs to be to teach the subject matter taught in its classes. But perhaps it is the first book to line up these facts in such a way that the linkage among them is so clear.

All the while the book manages to treat these grim subjects with good humor and, ultimately, with hope -- as it concludes that those entering graduate or professional school *can* protect themselves against ideological indoctrination, using techniques borrowed from an Army manual on how to resist brainwashing by enemy captors! The analogy may seem a bit melodramatic -- much more so, though, if you've never been in grad. school yourself.

I confess an interest in the success of this book. Its author is a friend and former co-worker of mine. Yet I hadn't read most of it before it was published, and when I did finally get a copy I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. Anyone who is a professional, knows professionals, works with professionals -- in short, just about anyone at all in a modern capitalist society -- will find this book delightful. And, whether or not you agree with all its subversive conclusions, much of it will ring true...because, clearly, much of it is.

Disciplined Minds is much more than a theory about the role of professionals and professional education in a capitalist society. It's a voyage of discovery, which takes the reader through grad-school horror stories, indoctrination procedures within religious cults, and POW resistance techniques -- all in an effort to explain this institution that has become so all-important in the U.S. economy, the institution of "the professional."

I'd definitely recommend the book to anyone.

M. Siegel

First, Jason Hong's review must be addressed. _Disciplined Minds_ is not a "Marxist" book in any way shape or form. It is more anarchistic, but only as Noam Chomsky would describe it: something that calls into question any sort of irrational authority and questions it.

Mr. Schmidt's witty analysis of two-year "professional training schools" - which he rightfully calls "professional rip-off academies" - is far from Marxist. Rather, Jeff rightfully recognizes that those employed in non-professional jobs view "credentialied" professionals as having a degree of freedom and prestige that they strive for, even though they might actually have a higher salary. The premise behind _Disciplined Minds_ is that this perceived "freedom" professional jobs offer comes only after a series of tests are passed - successful navigation of secondary school, a four year bachelor's degree, and then proper professional credentials after that. Since professionals must operate with a high degree of autonomy, they must naturally be expected to not do anything that would upset the balance of power in their particular industry. When I was interviewing for jobs right out of college, there was little care paid to what my field of study was IN college - rather, it was whether or not I had a "four year degree". A "four-year degree" connotes a tacit acceptance of a certain worldview, a certain ability to know the consensus and abide by it.

Far from being just "objective indicators of knowledge", each rung on the ladder of professionalism carries a political component with it as well. It is those who buy into the system, and those who play by the rules, that will successfully climb this ladder. At each successive level - high school graduation, entrance into a four year college, and then a J.D./M.D./Ph.D after that, there is a successive weeding-out of those who are different, those who could pose a possible problem to maintaining the status quo.

Jeff does a superlative job at illustrating this by drawing heavily from his own area of study, physics. (Jeff has a PhD in physics and if Mr. Hong were to have actually read this book, he would've found Jeff saying that his own experience in grad school was highly rewarding - alas, he must have skipped this chapter.) The vast majority of physics grad students eventually find employment in the defense and aerospace industries, and the subtle weeding-out process that occurs is obviously going to favor individuals who do not see any consequence in building weapons of mass destruction. Such individuals are naturally going to perform better on tests that view knowledge as simply a series of reductionist hoops that have to be jumped through, devoid of any wider social or environmental context.

The only slight criticism of this book was that it could've drawn out more of a conceptual framework for its criticism, echoing a review I read of a (oh, the irony) "professional" sociologist who critiqued it for not being "sociological enough." However, this book was written for a wider audience and I am glad it didn't get relegated to the academic social science scrap-heap. In short, this is an immensely readable and convincing piece of social science in the finest C. Wright Mills tradition, destined to strike a nerve.

It took me three days to read this book. I could not put it down...I took it with me everywhere and have told everyone I know about it. The level of insight into the motivations of professional training schools is right on the mark. I am currently a graduate student as well as an employee at a major university. I can see first hand the professionalization (read indoctrination) of the graduate student. I can also see with more insight the dynamics that go on in an academic office. I now understand why those in charge of forwarding the ideology of the office are not micromanaged, and those not trusted to forward the accurate ideology are micromanaged. Dr. Schmidt also does an excellent job in describing the role industry and the military has in professional training programs. A professional schools is seen as an extention of the profession, not an extention of the educational institution in which it is housed. There are tremendous forces pushing and pulling on professional training programs to produce the "right" kind of student. Unfortunately the force that wins out is the one with the money...private industry and the military. Students have to be aware that their very futures can be determined by what kind of funding a department receives.

He is right to say that if one does not remain connected to one's values and convictions, one can succumb to the whims of those in power. After depressing you with his accurate interpretation of the role professional schools play in society, he gives instructions on how to fight the indoctrination process.

I'm buying extra copies and giving them away as graduation gifts. A MUST READ for anyone who wants to survive professional school with their conscience intact.

The myth among most professional classes, especially the science types, is that their work is interest driven and creative. Every year brings a new crop of students who had bought this dream peddled by many a vocal enthusiast.. famous scientist, popularizer, media figure etc.
It is in Grad school that things unravel and you see that most professions are run by your rank and file professional in the field. The priorities here are set not by the ideals you were recruited on but a new crop of them which you assimilate through your professional training. What these new standards are and what role do they play in shaping the lives, attitudes and goals of the professional classes and thereby today's technologically driven society is the theme of Jeff Schmidt's excellent book.

The book chronicles superbly the travails of professionals in training or at work, who stop to consider what they are doing, rather than aiming to just keep afloat for the day and accept the goals set by their professional organizations. This book is definitely an individualist's perspective and in parts reads like an expose. An expose of the power structure of today's corporate society and the impotence of the professional classes who are blind to it. It is a critique on today's mores of the professional classes and the society they help run.

I liked this book as it gave a fairly accurate picture of experiences in grad school (especially in the sciences) and provided a peep in to the mental landscape of a working professional who has a different agenda than riding the coat tails of power and is looking for some consistency in his daily life and work.
The book is ambitious and passionate in the presentation of the author's view point, but it is not a very balanced critique. Some of the pages in the book do sound as if they were from the Doomsday book when Jeff manages to find nothing good in the professional training or in the work place, as the professional does not get to choose what to work on and not. Some of Jeff's diatribes could be even leveled at the workshops of renaissance masters.

If you are in the professional classes or looking at them, this book has plenty of insights. Its a cracking read for anybody who needs some help in beating the system or play by its rules(as the rules are pretty much laid clear in this book, which it critiques).

...there is much more to this book than "a few nuggets ... hidden deeply beneath the author's severe distortations and biases".

The author's premise is that any professional's work is inherently political, and Mr. Schmidt efficiently proves this to be true even for the most seemingly "pure" sciences. And as it's prevalent among physics researchers, it is even more distinct for the corporate professional. While Mr. Schmidt's liberal views are a little over the top at times (particularly with the POW/professional analogy), to dismiss the validity of the premise because of his "Marxist" views is silly.

Recognizing the political nature of professional work is the first step. The professional's decision of whether to meekly accept that role for herself is another. Other reviewers may find nothing wrong with playing the part of a cog in a corporate or government machine. However, if the goals of that machine aren't aligned with the professional's own moral code, the professional is doomed to internal conflict and overall dissatisfaction with her career.

If you are a professional or are planning a career as a professional, this book is essential if you do not want to compromise your morals to a corporate/goverment purpose. This book shows you how to resist becoming a mindless "brick in the wall" and to maintain your identity in the face of a relentless attack on your individuality.

This is an excellent book for anybody trying to understand: How does our modern society really work?

This brilliant book seeks to understand "the system" as a hierarchy of salaried professionals. The author considers a complex of interleaved factors that determine the nature of this hierarchy.

Anybody would love this book, but it would be especially interesting for graduate students, administrators, doctors, lawyers, business people, etc. (i.e. members of a strict hierarchy).

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My favorite passage:
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The intellectual boot camp known as graduate or professional school, with its cold-blooded expulsions and creeping indoctrination, systematically grinds down the student's spirit and ultimately produces obedient thinkers--highly educated employees who do their assigned work without questioning its goals. I call upon students and professionals to do just such questioning, not only for their own happiness, but for society's sake as well.
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The writing of this book got the author fired from his post at Physics Today - but you shouldn't read this book out of sympathy; I think it's a must-read for every graduate student.

Disciplined Minds is one of the most important books I have read in quite some time. Conceptually the author captures the great deal of frustration and dissatisfaction of practically every person I know in a professional work environment or in graduate school.

Well researched, poignant, and informative, Schmidt provides an empowering study. He shows how corporate capitalism allows only narrow focused intellectuals to advance, how a class of millions of such workers can be trained to such obedience, and what we can do to fight back.

A great book for the encouragement of the individual seeking to contribute his knowledge and ethics to the ideals of freedom. Be it a better product or system the fight is uphill and resistance will be great from the status-qua. Knowing from where it comes, being able to resist indoctrination into the flock and remaining true to our individual ethics is not easy, having the thoughts of an ally such as Jeff Schmidt through his thoughts expressed in "Disciplined Minds" is well worth the read.
Thank you Jeff Schmidt
Ed Fowler