The dark side of an MIT brain
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The dark side of an MIT brain
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Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#2It was an interesting article, but it got real interesting in the last paragraph when the journalist just comes out and condemns the founder.
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#3"When a young woman is in desperate need of money and a wealthy man comes along and uses that vulnerability to get sex, that's the definition of exploitation."
Seems like you could also say: "When a man is in desperate need of sex and a young woman comes along and uses that vulnerability to get money, that's the definition of exploitation."
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#4It occurred to me as I read the article that SeekingArrangement.com actually could not have asked for better publicity than this article. Sure, there will be a round of condemnation and so forth, but there will also be a great many thinking "hey, that's just what I need".
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#5Just as his website was MIT-driven by encouraging Mr. Wade’s entrepreneurial spirit and putting him in those awkward social situations, it was also MIT-driven by twisting his view of reality into a purely utilitarian model, completely devoid of any morals. As SeekingArrangement.com says, “Who is to say what is right and wrong?” Many would see this as dangerous, but to Mr. Wade, it is purely a case of the output being worth the input.
It really rubs me wrong that the OP believes that MIT is responsible for certain actions that are really up to the individual.
- You are the only one responsible for cultivating a moral compass. A college can require an ethics course, but whether you absorb any of it or not will be entirely on you.
- MIT didn't fail him any more than any other institution. It's not MIT's job to give him or anyone social skills. Again, see point #1, it's on you to do something about it.
I get the point of the article and the general depravity of the site he started, but seriously, is MIT responsible for this or simply collateral damage in this article's bomb crater? What if Ted Bundy, or Osama Bin Laden graduated from MIT? Is it MIT's fault that they are sociopathic too?
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#6Gosh, that was judgemental. I suppose it was intended to be an opinion piece, but it took prostitution to be wrong a priori, with no discussion or justification of this premise. Bandying about words like ‘exploitation’ is, frankly, cheap. The phrase “exploiting young women and enticing men to have extramarital affairs” reveals several of the author’s strong inner biases (to wit, that women are weak and men are evil). If anything, I'd say the author himself demonstrates ‘the dark side of an MIT brain’.
On a more general note, where are the articles discussing the long-term effect of prostitution on psychology? For example, do students who sell sex at college go on to be less or more successful than their cohort? Do they form longer-lasting or more volatile relationships later in life? Those are the articles I’d like to read.
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#7"When a young woman is in desperate need of money and a wealthy man comes along and uses that vulnerability to get sex, that's the definition of exploitation." Seems like you could also say: "When a man is in desperate need of sex and a young woman comes along and uses that vulnerability to get money, that's the definition of exploitation."
Lack of money is a much more severe situation than lack of sex. Lack of money comes with the possibility of poverty, while lack of sex just means that you will have to wait longer for sex.
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#8> To test this proposition, make college free.
In this case you'd still be taking money from rich men and women and giving them to the people going to college, only without the services rendered.
It's like asking whether I'd still do IT if I were paid to hang around playing video games. Obviously I'd rather study, tinker or engage in leisure rather than do my job. This doesn't answer the question of whether the exploitation is right or wrong.
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#9"When a young woman is in desperate need of money and a wealthy man comes along and uses that vulnerability to get sex, that's the definition of exploitation." Seems like you could also say: "When a man is in desperate need of sex and a young woman comes along and uses that vulnerability to get money, that's the definition of exploitation."
Lack of money is a much more severe situation than lack of sex. Lack of money comes with the possibility of poverty, while lack of sex just means that you will have to wait longer for sex.
Although you can get money in many more ways than you can get sex.
Re: The dark side of an MIT brain
#10"When a young woman is in desperate need of money and a wealthy man comes along and uses that vulnerability to get sex, that's the definition of exploitation." Seems like you could also say: "When a man is in desperate need of sex and a young woman comes along and uses that vulnerability to get money, that's the definition of exploitation."
You could also say, "When a young man is in desperate need of money, and a wealthy corporation comes along and uses that vulnerability to get work, that's the definition of exploitation."