It’s hard to think that Scientific American would ever be commenting on sci-fi like Star Wars, but it looks like that day has come. A recent article from Scientific American said that the term JEDI, often used as an acronym for “justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion” among STEMM academic committees is problematic. With the term being so popular that even the the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine uses it, the idea has caused quite a stir among academics and Star Wars fans alike.
According to the article, one of the biggest issues using JEDI in this way could actually be hurting these groups using the acronym.
“While an overarching goal of JEDI initiatives is to promote inclusion, the term JEDI might make people feel excluded. Star Wars is popular but divisive. Identifying our initiatives with it may nudge them closer to the realm of fandom, manufacturing in-groups and out-groups.”
They also tried to explain it in simpler terms.
“Put simply, the baggage of Jedi and Star Wars is too heavy to burden our justice-oriented initiatives with and may actually undermine these efforts.” It even suggested that the term which aims to promote inclusion might make some people feel “excluded”.”
Unsurprisingly, Star Wars fans didn’t take lightly to this and started to blast Scientific American on Twitter.
It seems most Star Wars fans and scientists alike agree that using JEDI in this way is fine and it won’t be changing in the future. It looks like Scientific American will have to deal with the clap back of Twitter for a while regardless.