Trash talk among 'friends'

Most people have sided with the professor since the seemingly trivial incident broke out, saying that they did not see Hao's statement as academic dissent. It was inappropriate for a student, or anyone for that matter, to talk in such sweeping and belittling terms about others, let alone figures of authority in your own field.

However, it is not unique to hear newcomers in a field of expertise who hold opinions such as Hao's. Usually, the less knowledge a person has, the more disdain he will have for symbols of authority.

There was a campus joke during my graduate years in Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University: When you ramble from room to room in the male dormitory building, you'd get the feeling that, out of every 10 students, eight have the self-assurance they already possess the capability to be the premier of China.

It is commonplace that after you've read three books on a certain discipline you feel so empowered that you talk as if you're the absolute authority and can look down on everyone else. But after you read 300 books, you'll realize how little you know about the subject.

Hao is a first-year postgraduate student in a master's program. Rebellious youngsters like him are a dime a dozen.

I'm not denying that, out of the hundreds and thousands who challenge authorities, a few would supersede the previous generation and become masters of their own. They would have to do it by establishing their newer or subversive theories supported with strong research, not by making general statements.

It is not wrong to rebel, but it would be a sign of ignorance to rebel without originality of thought.

Now the tricky part: What is the right platform to air such pet peeves as Hao's?

When a student proclaims in his dorm room a certain scholar is "just garbage", few would say he is out of line. But if he does the same in a classroom, it would be taken very differently. To take it one level up, it would be like throwing down the gauntlet if the same sentiment is published in a school newspaper.

So, it is the platform that largely determines whether such grumbling is tantamount to bad manners.