Wild‑scholar extinction

Universities are systematically filtering out a once‑visible archetype of scholar — the abrasive, risk‑taking, physically confrontational intellectual — in favor of safer, more conforming faculty. This trend changes the tone of campus debate, narrows the tolerated styles of inquiry, and may bias which lines of research survive institutional review and hiring. — If true, hiring and conduct norms are reshaping the kinds of intellectual risk and conflict that produce major theoretical advances.