The Slow Death of the University • Hacker News Board

Re: The Slow Death of the University

#131

Post by Lawtonfogle » Fri, Apr 24, 2015, 6:13 PM UTC

mcdougle wrote: post #126

arethuza wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that very little of the code (e.g. contracts) that get written ever run and the people who debug the code (litigators) aren't the same people who wrote it in the first place. Also the people who wanted the code written in the first place have never actually read it are convinced it says something different to what it actually does say.... It would be an interesting project to create an artificial court/judge i…

So it's like programming?

Like programming, but far worse.

Re: The Slow Death of the University

#132

Post by Lawtonfogle » Fri, Apr 24, 2015, 6:14 PM UTC

russellallen wrote: post #99

AngrySkillzz wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's writing (legal) code that you can run on judges.

Lol. For most lawyers out drafting contracts, we're still in the days of mainframes. We write code by hand which will probably never be run on a real judge, but we hope we haven't made any bugs.

The fun part is that there is a positive correlation between having bugs and having your code run on a judge.

Re: The Slow Death of the University

#133

Post by pvaldes » Fri, Apr 24, 2015, 11:55 PM UTC

vinchuco wrote: post #44

mathattack wrote: post #12

I wonder if this death of criticism is misty eyed nastolgia for a future that either never, or rarely existed. Let's not forget that our so-called great universities: - For a long time excluded women, Jews and many minorities. - Were the providence of only the technocratic elite. - Did very little research before the 20th century. And now that the costs escalate out of control, is it any wonder that they have to go m…

nastolgia

brilliant wordplay! nostalgia for a worst, nastier time: nastolgia, i love it.

Re: The Slow Death of the University

#134

Post by kaonashi » Sun, Apr 26, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

alextgordon wrote: post #107

kaonashi wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When specifically did you gain the right to not be offended That's an unbelievably dismissive view. What makes you think these areas are merely about exclusion from offense?

Universities exist for the benefit of society at large, not for the benefit of individuals. If people are afraid or forbidden to speak their minds, then the university won't be able to function as a place to advance our understanding of the world.

That would make sense to say if we were talking about the entire university; but we're not.