tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post6630876358762486931..comments2024-03-26T12:23:29.784-04:00Comments on Philosoraptor: Winston Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780746334199630779noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-80994676710990646042007-03-20T16:35:00.000-04:002007-03-20T16:35:00.000-04:00It seems to me that the real problem here is thus:...It seems to me that the real problem here is thus:<BR/><BR/>1) The job market requires that people who don't know you be able to evaluate you effectively to the point where these people may hire you to a position (potentially one of very high responsibility) and you will perform the job well and with integrity.<BR/><BR/>2) Any system in which one is required to evaluate another without knowing Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-83963418363256661332007-03-20T15:37:00.000-04:002007-03-20T15:37:00.000-04:00Re: Anonymous's claims about "fluffy talk about th...Re: Anonymous's claims about "fluffy talk about the value of education" obscuring the fact that "college is an industry":<BR/><BR/>Well, I think that's how many students and administrators view it...and perhaps the faculty, too, in e.g. business schools...but that's not the way a whole lot of faculty view it... And what the faculty does and thinks plays a significant role in determining what Winston Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08780746334199630779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-41018881234706423962007-03-20T12:49:00.000-04:002007-03-20T12:49:00.000-04:00Who your peers in college are also matters. Atlea...Who your peers in college are also matters. Atleast in the hard sciences (I'm a senior phyaics and math double major) most of the learning goes on while doing problem sets which are for the most part colabrotive affairs.<BR/><BR/>There is also that whole networking thing. There is long term networking with your peers and short term networking from tapping in to the networks of your professorsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-52901402862954808932007-03-18T14:42:00.000-04:002007-03-18T14:42:00.000-04:00OK, this is anonynous 1.Anonymark is thinking abou...OK, this is anonynous 1.<BR/><BR/>Anonymark is thinking about how easy it is to flunk out once you are in. That misses a large part of my point, which is that high standards in admissions create incentives for low standards on the other side of that hurdle. If a high school student were to form the perverse ambition of flunking out of Harvard, the chances of his realizing this goal would be Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-30490989706175230212007-03-18T03:03:00.000-04:002007-03-18T03:03:00.000-04:00My name is Mark and I am not anonymous 1.And yes, ...My name is Mark and I am not anonymous 1.<BR/><BR/>And yes, any mook off the street is good enough to flunk out of Yale. Flunking out of Yale is just as easy as flunking out of Howard Washington Community College or ITT or Devry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-17418187202380375382007-03-18T02:47:00.000-04:002007-03-18T02:47:00.000-04:00Hell, Al Gore flunked out of Yale.Anonymous2, if y...Hell, Al Gore flunked out of Yale.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous2, if you're the same Amonymous1 (there's no way of telling), you're going back on everything you wrote. What, do you think just any mook off the street is good enough to flunk out of Yale?Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-10212039583940574732007-03-18T00:29:00.000-04:002007-03-18T00:29:00.000-04:003:43 Anon is correct insofar as military schools a...3:43 Anon is correct insofar as military schools are concerned. Reference Gen. Patton as an example of what military academies can do with a person. Yes he was a racist and cold blooded, but you cannot deny his very thorough education and his skill at using said training to evaluate circumstance.<BR/><BR/>However I am troubled by the notion that education is a marketable device. Although Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-35292102468351975372007-03-16T20:41:00.000-04:002007-03-16T20:41:00.000-04:00This makes it worth while for kids to work hard to...<I>This makes it worth while for kids to work hard to get into Harvard if they can, and for their parents to pay for it if they can. But once you are *in* school, the value of the degree is already very high just based on the number of kids excluded from ever attending.</I><BR/><BR/>Ace, anon.<BR/><BR/>When inviting a prospective business contact out for drinks in New York, you make it at the Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-4199930101270342982007-03-16T15:43:00.000-04:002007-03-16T15:43:00.000-04:00Trying to use low drop out rate as an indication o...Trying to use low drop out rate as an indication of falling standards is plainly wrong, since the persons admitted into the PhD program are not some random segment of the population but a group that is supposed to be both motivated and skilled in the area they study. The 80% award rate could just be a reflection that the admissions process is working effectively. And it's not as if a degree awardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-26235091885740460402007-03-16T00:05:00.000-04:002007-03-16T00:05:00.000-04:00Obviously only one conclusion can be drawn: Alcoh...Obviously only one conclusion can be drawn: Alcohol is making the student body <I>smarter</I>.<BR/><BR/>Tom raises a good point though. Plato did enjoy the wine whilst "pondering the good," as my Old wisened prof. used to say.<BR/><BR/>Ref: my comment yesterday, one of the biggest gripes my old professor had was how standards in Academia have dropped in response to the economical model of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264937.post-11658073293929911262007-03-15T23:46:00.000-04:002007-03-15T23:46:00.000-04:00Per Plato's Symposium, alcohol and philosophy have...Per Plato's <I>Symposium</I>, alcohol and philosophy have always gone together. If only you could get 'em while they're still drinking, instead of just hung over.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com