system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why are academics so blunt (to the point of being rude)?

You don't have to (and I wouldn't want you to) sugar-coat anything, but jeez. It's really important to provide timely, constructive criticism, but many of the professors and grad students I know are really tactless. I've even seen people say something hurtful for the sake of saying something hurtful and then giggle about ("oops! Did I really say that?"). Even here on Reddit, responses in this sub and some of the others can be so soul-crushingly blunt. Is any other profession like this?

I think this is especially important for junior academics: people need to know where they stand. Instead of just being nasty to them so they "take the hint" that they shouldn't be here, be honest yet supportive. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I just too sensitive?
gpt
>Is any other profession like this?  
  
I'd be willing to bet that all other professions are like this. This sounds like a criticism of people being people, more than it is a criticism of academia in particular. Gatekeeping, rudeness (on the internet, no less), sniping, and general lack of tact are everywhere.  
  
I believe, unfortunate as it is, that you don't necessarily know a lot of professors and grad students who are miserable shits, so much as you live in a society overflowing with miserable shits, and you happen to spend a lot of time around professors and grad students.