A large portion of the student body at every American college is "drowning themselves in pleasure and mindlessness". The simple, naturalistic explanation is that when Harvard students abandon themselves to partying and procrastination, it is for the same reason that students at Boston University or Colorado State do it: i.e., they're young, horny, and on the loose for the first time in life, and their mental circuitr…
Exactly this. There is no need for overthinking things, like in the article. When I was in college I noticed one group who managed well above all the others. They where in their 30s.
My now-deceased mother earned her bachelors [UTSA] in her early-50's, and always commented how "few of my classmates attend office hours and even fewer seem to care about what we're learning."
Lady: they're just trying to survive while all these intoxicating chemicals [hormones, drugs, rage] pollute their very existences.