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An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

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Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#11

Post by [deleted] »

ljim4a wrote: post #10
gyardley wrote: post #3

'Creepy' is right. I wonder how many people refrained from using an otherwise-useful mailing list because of someone they didn't want thinking about the color of their underwear. I further wonder if reluctance to talk about their underwear color publicly impacts different genders disproportionately.

From one debate on bc-talk: "I'll point out that I've met someone who wanted to post on bc-talk but didn't just because they were uncomfortable with the whole underwear color thing. Also, I haven't been doing it when I post because it seemed weird to me." So at least 2.

[deleted]

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#12

Post by mfringel »

gyardley wrote: post #3

'Creepy' is right. I wonder how many people refrained from using an otherwise-useful mailing list because of someone they didn't want thinking about the color of their underwear. I further wonder if reluctance to talk about their underwear color publicly impacts different genders disproportionately.

It does not appear that you are wondering. It appears that you are making assertions, while using the word 'wonder'.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#13

Post by gyardley »

mfringel wrote: post #12
gyardley wrote: post #3

'Creepy' is right. I wonder how many people refrained from using an otherwise-useful mailing list because of someone they didn't want thinking about the color of their underwear. I further wonder if reluctance to talk about their underwear color publicly impacts different genders disproportionately.

It does not appear that you are wondering. It appears that you are making assertions, while using the word 'wonder'.

No, I am wondering.

Yes, it seems likely to me that talking about underwear color would prevent some students from using the list and those students would disproportionately be likely to be female, based on my own experiences in engineering school. But I posted what I did specifically because I wanted to see if my suspicions were correct.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#14

Post by my_opic_farseer »

leblancfg wrote: post #2

Reading this made me downright sad that I didn't, and probably never will, attend MIT. Oh, the interesting people! The interesting projects! How I wish I had worked harder.

From what I heard, working hard is like 10% of the effort to get into over-hyped shit schools like MiT. The rest is who you know, what you can pay, and what you're willing to do to get in.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#15

Post by azinman2 »

my_opic_farseer wrote: post #14
leblancfg wrote: post #2

Reading this made me downright sad that I didn't, and probably never will, attend MIT. Oh, the interesting people! The interesting projects! How I wish I had worked harder.

From what I heard, working hard is like 10% of the effort to get into over-hyped shit schools like MiT. The rest is who you know, what you can pay, and what you're willing to do to get in.

I wouldn't actually say that's true. Maybe Harvard but not MIT. I didn't know anyone, didn't pay (they paid me), and I didn't do anything specific for MIT admission.

What makes you say it's a shit school?

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#16

Post by leblancfg »

azinman2 wrote: post #15
my_opic_farseer wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I heard, working hard is like 10% of the effort to get into over-hyped shit schools like MiT. The rest is who you know, what you can pay, and what you're willing to do to get in.

I wouldn't actually say that's true. Maybe Harvard but not MIT. I didn't know anyone, didn't pay (they paid me), and I didn't do anything specific for MIT admission. What makes you say it's a shit school?

I agree. And certainly don't think MIT, nor Harvard, are shit. You get what you put in.

Mostly, I was educated in the Québec system, and had no idea before I was 16 that if I got good grades I could get into interesting universities -- even the American ones. Reading up voraciously on Richard Feynman, only to discover that if things had been different, I, too, could have gone to that school. By that time, it was too late, I simply didn't have the grades. My parents' perception that it would cost a fortune certainly didn't help.

Not that I'm complaining, I can't change the past. But the idea of never attending MIT is one of those very few, recurring what-ifs? that will sometime keep me up at night, half a lifetime after.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#17

Post by dvt »

gyardley wrote: post #3

'Creepy' is right. I wonder how many people refrained from using an otherwise-useful mailing list because of someone they didn't want thinking about the color of their underwear. I further wonder if reluctance to talk about their underwear color publicly impacts different genders disproportionately.

Oh come on, it's not that creepy. At UCLA, we had yearly undie runs[1]. You sound repressed. Plus, underwear color could just've been made up.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoaP9CdbvD4

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#18

Post by azinman2 »

leblancfg wrote: post #16
azinman2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't actually say that's true. Maybe Harvard but not MIT. I didn't know anyone, didn't pay (they paid me), and I didn't do anything specific for MIT admission. What makes you say it's a shit school?

I agree. And certainly don't think MIT, nor Harvard, are shit. You get what you put in. Mostly, I was educated in the Québec system, and had no idea before I was 16 that if I got good grades I could get into interesting universities -- even the American ones. Reading up voraciously on Richard Feynman, only to discover that if things had been different, I, too, could have gone to that school . By that time, it was too…

There's always grad school. I didn't get in undergrad, and I probably wouldn't have been ready had I.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#19

Post by tjalex »

leblancfg wrote: post #16
azinman2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't actually say that's true. Maybe Harvard but not MIT. I didn't know anyone, didn't pay (they paid me), and I didn't do anything specific for MIT admission. What makes you say it's a shit school?

I agree. And certainly don't think MIT, nor Harvard, are shit. You get what you put in. Mostly, I was educated in the Québec system, and had no idea before I was 16 that if I got good grades I could get into interesting universities -- even the American ones. Reading up voraciously on Richard Feynman, only to discover that if things had been different, I, too, could have gone to that school . By that time, it was too…

You're not missing out, don't sweat it :-) I went to a similar university, and one of the best things about working in tech is that the culture is so similar to that environment.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#20

Post by lazaroclapp »

gyardley wrote: post #13
mfringel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not appear that you are wondering. It appears that you are making assertions, while using the word 'wonder'.

No, I am wondering. Yes, it seems likely to me that talking about underwear color would prevent some students from using the list and those students would disproportionately be likely to be female, based on my own experiences in engineering school. But I posted what I did specifically because I wanted to see if my suspicions were correct.

I personally think this is probably intended to be just a funny tradition (and hopefully taken in that spirit by most students, of either gender). However, I think is fair to wonder about possible side-effects. The fact that the question gets downvoted here makes me, if anything, more likely to believe someone raising the issue within MIT, or choosing to send something like "unspecified"/"E_NO_ANSWER" to the mailing list,might receive, at best, an unkind response.
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