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An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

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Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#51

Post by ridgeguy »

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…

Referring to another current HN post, if Hugh Everett was right, at least one of you did attend MIT.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#52

Post by MichaelGG »

ridgeguy wrote: post #51
leblancfg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Referring to another current HN post, if Hugh Everett was right, at least one of you did attend MIT.

If Everett is right then doesn't that mean that one of him also, say, choked to death on his acceptance letter?

I like the idea of immortality (no matter what happens, I'll always wake up OK in some branch, and that is me), but I'm not sure it actually helps otherwise, day-to-day. In fact, I'd guess there's more potentially bad universes so it seems rather much of a downer in that sense.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#54

Post by kingnight »

noname123 wrote: post #38
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.

FWIW, I never went to MIT (went to a small liberal arts college); but I work at an MIT affiliate, so by virtue of proximity and affiliation, go to talks given on campus, eat at their cafeteria, have audited classes and play basketball at their gym. But basically a third-party observer to campus culture, my subjective $0.02: The undergrad population is much to my dismay similar to any American school trained on the pr…

Can you share what the Canadian goose jacket reference/meaning is?

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#55

Post by noname123 »

phd514 wrote: post #42
noname123 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I never went to MIT (went to a small liberal arts college); but I work at an MIT affiliate, so by virtue of proximity and affiliation, go to talks given on campus, eat at their cafeteria, have audited classes and play basketball at their gym. But basically a third-party observer to campus culture, my subjective $0.02: The undergrad population is much to my dismay similar to any American school trained on the pr…

You're definitely missing a significant subculture that exists among MIT undergraduates. The kinds of MIT-affiliated events that you describe are certainly not the ones where you are likely to discover it. You are correct, though, in observing that not all MIT undergraduates fit into that subculture and many will go into finance, law, or medical careers. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Hi phd514, in reading your comment, you are absolutely right; my comment did paint a broad brush. In reconsidering my response, I'd retract what I said about MIT culture and say my remarks really says more about me and my own cynicism/preoccupation at my age, late twenties.

It is in direct response to the parent post where the poster lamented about missing out a chance to experience the idealistic/radical youth culture when he was young, I responded more cynically about how in college I and my other friends did live in creative undergraduate communities; but whereas it was easy and natural to take on that attitude during undergrad, I found it became much harder to sustain those ideals in adulthood, as hard choices and realization of human nature creeps in, whether to truly sacrifice precious time and energy in your adulthood working towards them vs. "establishing" oneself professionally and socially; and because I struggle mightily with this, I put more value on what imperfect choices that people commit to as adults vs. the exciting (albeit memorable/enriching) experiences that they partook in as undergrads.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#56

Post by noname123 »

kingnight wrote: post #54
noname123 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I never went to MIT (went to a small liberal arts college); but I work at an MIT affiliate, so by virtue of proximity and affiliation, go to talks given on campus, eat at their cafeteria, have audited classes and play basketball at their gym. But basically a third-party observer to campus culture, my subjective $0.02: The undergrad population is much to my dismay similar to any American school trained on the pr…

Can you share what the Canadian goose jacket reference/meaning is?

http://nypost.com/2015/01/26/the-1000-parka-that-quietly-too...

Sure it is a fashionable jacket that you see a lot of people wear on the streets and subways of NYC/Boston that cost about $750-$1200 (a comparable Northface jacket would go for 1/3 or 1/2 of that price). It's a viral trend where the utility doesn't justify the price, but people blindly follow the trend as a status symbol. Newbury Street is the most famous/prominent downtown shopping district in Boston where yuppies and hipsters go to see people and be seen and hence, the jarring conclusion that you'd see as many Canada Goose jackets there as in the long hallways (Infinite Corridor) of MIT.

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#58

Post by akhilcacharya »

peterwwillis wrote: post #34
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.

You really don't need to attend MIT to work on projects with people like these. Near me there's a tool library, a makerspace, two hackerspaces, a biotechspace, an art college, several medical schools, many different kinds of collectives, and several big art-focused festivals with grants. As a person who dropped out of high school and never went to college, i've worked on big art builds involving mechanical engineerin…

There is a massive difference in how credible you seem (and ergo, are treated) if you have an MIT, Ivy, or Stanford degree. I'm not 100% sure, but my hunch is that very few YC founders come from state schools like mine (although I know at least one did).

Re: An MIT Underwear Exposé (and Sorting Hat)

#60

Post by vincentriemer »

Retra wrote: post #49
maus42 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>unkind response Some of responses in this comment thread look very much like blatant schoolyard bullying behaviour manifesting. "Why take things so seriously" "Spoilsport" et cetera ... Partake in the hazing rituals, or else.

How is this hazing?

I mean technically this would be considered hazing. According to the "student handbook" of my alma mater hazing was defined as "making someone do something they do not want to do as requirement of membership" (paraphrasing here).

Personally, as a previous member of a greek organization, I find the definition ridiculous as it would qualify having prospective members study/be tested on the history of the organization as hazing.

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