The one thing I've learned from one of the most prestigious technical universities in the world is that results are more important than integrity.
The Shadow Scholar
111–115 of 115 posts
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#112Most telling quote: As long as it doesn't require me to do any math, I will write anything.
You know, maybe after I finish my Ph. D. in maths, I can go on to become the "Shadow Scholar" for online math courses. ... That actually kind of sounds like fun.
Something tells me you'd manage to sell about one problem set per assignment.
Live by the sword, die by the sword :-)
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not going to play dumb and act like I didn't realize what I was doing. I did it partly for the money, and partly for the sake of helping someone who would probably not have a chance to improve their life (via education). We remain good friends to this day - she called just before I read your comment. " They're stupid because you provided them absolutely no incentive not to be." There are some people who, irrespec…
> Don't believe for a second that one day, everyone will be smart, uber-rational and we'll all live in some Randian, Galt-led utopia. Not even with properly-applied eugenics (i.e. widespread pre-fertilization gene therapy)?
How will the "properly-applied" eugenics be done?
I mean, currently people get other people to write their papers for a college degree -- think of how much they'd be willing to pay if it was their kids' existence on the line!
tl;dr: Eugenics won't be properly applied because pre-eugenics people will game the system.
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
So, I guess you could just pick up an illiterate guy with good people skills to run a large corporation or be the president?
Yep, pretty much. As long as he can talk with experts and understand their position he can lead.
Yep, I can personally attest that a director at one large corporation has a BOUGHT undergraduate degree, and no other education.
He inherited the position from the hardworking founder through being extremely good at people skills and corporate backstabbing (he should have a degree in that :) ). It saddens me and makes me a bit more cynical every time I see him.
The corporation survives because these monsters are mostly self-sustaining, and those at lower levels do the actual work (I wouldn't give it a chance if some disruption came along, though).
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#115This person's work completely lacks the kind of civic virtue that traditional liberal education was meant to inculcate. The responsibility lies with us, that we do not support the classical Western liberal tradition of virtue.