Grad school's, like, hard.

Here is your vocab list for today. These are words that people have seriously used in lectures, and I had to write them down so I could google them later.

Tautology: n. , pl. -gies . Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy. An instance of such repetition.

Hegemony: a term used mostly by Marxist critics to delineate the web of dominant ideologies within a society.

Pareto-Optimal: Having the property that no Pareto-improving change is possible.

Conjecture: (From Gina's friend) a description of a social formation as fractured and conflictual, along multiple axes, planes and scales, constantly in search of temporary balances or structural stabilities through a variety of practices and processes of struggle and negotiation.

Paternalism: describes the relationship of a dominant group, considered superior, to a subordinate group, considered inferior, in which the dominance is mitigated by mutual obligations and reciprocal rights.

Does your brain hurt yet? I feel like I'm learning a new language! My econ class is pretty overwhelming, and the stats classes are alternately boring and impossibly hard - a fatal combination. I had to buy a roll of Rolaids at the gas station this morning. Acid reflux - it's never a good sign.