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The dark side of an MIT brain

tech.mit.edu

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Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#21

Post by esrauch »

gacba wrote: post #5

Just 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…

I completely agree that it is not reasonable to say that any action taken by an individual is the responsibility of an institution or community, but conversely I don't think it is fair to say that individuals actions should never reflect poorly on the community that they are a part of.

> You are the only one responsible for cultivating a moral compass.

I don't really understand this point; you are the only one responsible for cultivating Physics 1 knowledge as well. If there were high profile instances of people who had recently taken Physics 1 at MIT and clearly did not absorb it at all, then that still can reflect poorly on MIT.

Clearly there are going to be outliers, but it doesn't even sound like you are arguing that this guy is an outlier, but rather that MIT shouldn't strive to cultivate ethical behavior and any amount of unethical behavior by MIT alum shouldn't reflect badly on them as an institution.

I'm actually living in Cambridge now, and (based on completely anecdotal evidence of conversations with students) it appears to me that MIT focuses far less on being a responsible citizen or an ethical engineer than most other universities that I have had experience with. At many schools, ethics is not only a required course, but something that is not uncommonly discussed in the context of any random CS course. One of my interns from MIT was specifically surprised to hear that I had talked about ethical considerations related to being employed in a CS related field in my undergrad.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#22

Post by learc83 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #20
DennisP wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article also says "To test this proposition, make college free. If college girls were no longer desperately in need of money, I would be more than willing to bet that SeekingArrangement.com would cease to be highly profitable." Seems to me he's saying that the women aren't doing it to survive, they're doing it to get a college education. I would submit that the drive for sex is a much more primal urge, going back…

I doubt that the women who sign up to be sugar babies are doing it to get laid.

That's not what he was saying at all. Read the last few comments again.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#23

Post by donaldc »

orangecat wrote: post #13
pyre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Hmm. If you asked guys whether they would rather be permanently poor but be able to have sex with attractive women whenever they wanted, or to be wealthy but have no possibility of sex, I'd expect it to be close. (Assuming of course a first world environment where poverty doesn't mean starvation).

If you asked guys whether they would rather be permanently poor but be able to have sex with attractive women whenever they wanted, or to be wealthy but have no possibility of sex, I'd expect it to be close.

I'd be very surprised if it were close. I bet almost all guys would choose the former over the latter.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#24

Post by acroyear »

..and another thing - MIT brains should never engage in 'one-night stands'.

..and another thing - MIT brains should never buy a girl a drink unless they fully intend on making an emotional commitment.

(gimme a break)

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#25

Post by [deleted] »

pyre wrote: post #7
DennisP wrote: post #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."

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.

[deleted]

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#26

Post by chrischen »

DennisP wrote: post #11
pyre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The article also says "To test this proposition, make college free. If college girls were no longer desperately in need of money, I would be more than willing to bet that SeekingArrangement.com would cease to be highly profitable." Seems to me he's saying that the women aren't doing it to survive, they're doing it to get a college education. I would submit that the drive for sex is a much more primal urge, going back…

So SeekingArrangement.com is providing value. It's enabling young girls to go to college. That is quite empowering. However if his site is bad, then it simply highlights the shitty situation these college girls are in in the first place. His site doesn't make things worse.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#27

Post by mst »

DasIch wrote: post #12

The fact that woman feel compelled to go to such lengths is a problem, the fact that this site (in part) exploits that may be a problem morally speaking but what are those women supposed to do instead? To which length would they feel compelled to go if they didn't have this option? It appears to be that this site provides at least some sort of security. I don't think anyone wants to see them "work the street" either.…

Why do you assume they "feel compelled" to do this? I mean, it seems highly likely in my opinion that some percentage (possibly/probably the vast majority) are doing so as a last or near-to-last resort, but "highly likely in my opinion" doesn't strike me as sufficient grounds to write up your questions with what seems like an implicit assumption that the percentage is as close to 100 as to make no useful difference.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#28

Post by Tichy »

I thought desperate need is starving, freezing, facing eviction, not "struggling to pay for a college degree". Can't you put those degrees on hold for a while (not sure how the system works)?

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#29

Post by thinkdevcode »

donaldc wrote: post #23
orangecat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. If you asked guys whether they would rather be permanently poor but be able to have sex with attractive women whenever they wanted, or to be wealthy but have no possibility of sex, I'd expect it to be close. (Assuming of course a first world environment where poverty doesn't mean starvation).

If you asked guys whether they would rather be permanently poor but be able to have sex with attractive women whenever they wanted, or to be wealthy but have no possibility of sex, I'd expect it to be close. I'd be very surprised if it were close. I bet almost all guys would choose the former over the latter.

Make a poll.

Re: The dark side of an MIT brain

#30

Post by klbarry »

zacharyvoase wrote: post #6

Gosh, 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)…

Thank you for succinctly expressing my own thoughts and anger on the matter.
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