[zozbot234]

The best response to that is malicious compliance: make the changes, but in a way that's as reasonable as possible, and as obnoxious as possible to the people who have actually requested the change. Like, have the acknowledgment line on the syllabus be: "ᴅɪsᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀ: ᴛʜɪs ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ ɪs ᴛᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛʀᴀᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ x-ᴛʀɪʙᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ." or something like that. If the other side objects, you can stand your ground and point out that they are being unreasonable.

[DuskStar]

Nah, you need to add some attribution there - "DISCLAIMER: THIS COURSE IS TAKING PLACE ON TRADITIONAL X-TRIBE LAND. THIS DISCLAIMER BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOUR STUDENT UNION FEES"

[hug]

That's the worst possible response! The way you want think this man should cleverly manoeuvre out of people thinking he's behaving badly is by being deliberately malicious?

You think the solution is being obnoxious and doing that in such a way that is literally exact same amount of effort as just being nice?

Then, your imaginative response when someone points out that everything you are suggesting is shitty behaviour, the answer is to point back at them and say "no you"?!

[josteink]

> The way you want think this man should cleverly manoeuvre out of people thinking he's behaving badly is by being deliberately malicious?

Sure. When people are trying to sabotage his courses by continuously injecting their political, highly leftist and non-CS-related agenda into it, his response should be as malicious as humanly possible.

What's next? Should we let flat-earthers dictate how we teach science?

[zozbot234]

> ...being deliberately malicious?

Of course. After all, 'malicious compliance' is a relative term; the alternative is to ignore the request altogether and do nothing at all!

[hug]

You could just comply with the request in good faith, of course, which you still have yet to come up with any argument against.

[josteink]

I'm feeling a little sensitive right now about your use of "you". It feels very direct, hostile and threatening to me.

I would appreciate it if you could rewrite all your HN posts to exclude the use of "you" and rather use alternate grammatical forms.

It's not a big job really, so you shouldn't have any possible reason not to comply.