Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#2Looking at pics of what she was wearing, I think it's sad that she still doesn't realize she was reckless.
I'm not saying she deserved everything that happened to her, but wearing a breadboard with a cluster of lights and a 9v hanging off your chest, at an airport, might be the very definition of reckless.
Ok, I get it, you're a maker. That doesn't give you the right to scare the shit out of people. Would it be ok for air-soft fans to start a shooting war at an airport and expect people to understand?
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#3Looking at pics of what she was wearing, I think it's sad that she still doesn't realize she was reckless. I'm not saying she deserved everything that happened to her, but wearing a breadboard with a cluster of lights and a 9v hanging off your chest, at an airport, might be the very definition of reckless. Ok, I get it, you're a maker. That doesn't give you the right to scare the shit out of people. Would it be ok fo…
It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. If I saw someone walking around with a bunch of electronics draped over themselves it wouldn't cross my mind to be afraid of them; as a result, I wouldn't have thought twice about doing it (until this and the other more recently publicized case of freakouts.)
It's not as if there's a high school civics lecture on the topic of Strange American Fears, and parents don't tell their kids not to have something that looks like a bunch of messy electronics, so I'm not sure where she is supposed to go and figure this out. As a result, it's hard for me to say she did something wrong.
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#4> So, I went directly to the best place I could think of: the very first place I walked to after I was let free, was the Office of the President at MIT. (In loco parentis, right?) But I was stopped at the door. She wouldn’t see me or talk to me. Liability, and all. The potential cost of giving me any legal advice or talking to her directly about anything, would simply be too great. So MIT found the protection it sought, while I did not.
Bummer, it seems college sometimes prepares you for the real world by turning its back on you just like the real world does.
> Star Simpson’s actions were reckless and understandably created alarm at the airport. — MIT News Office, Sep 21 20
Ouch, fuck MIT
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#5Looking at pics of what she was wearing, I think it's sad that she still doesn't realize she was reckless. I'm not saying she deserved everything that happened to her, but wearing a breadboard with a cluster of lights and a 9v hanging off your chest, at an airport, might be the very definition of reckless. Ok, I get it, you're a maker. That doesn't give you the right to scare the shit out of people. Would it be ok fo…
It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. If I saw someone walking around with a bunch of electronics draped over themselves it wouldn't cross my mind to be afraid of them; as a result, I wouldn't have thought twice about doing it (until this and the other more recently publicized case of freakouts.) It's not as if there's…
>It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself.
I don't agree with this claim. In fact, I think it's extremely easy to identify what might scare other people. So much so that it can be reduced to a single question:
"Is this outside the norm?"
Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all over you, you're lit up like an X-mas tree, wearing a full-body suit, wearing a balaclava, what have you. Do you see other people doing it? No? Chances are you're going to raise suspicion and suspicion not only can cause fear but I argue it will cause fear.
Normality is a social comfort zone. Nobody bats an eye at anyone who isn't standing out from the crowd.
Now before anyone tries to wage some sort of moral war against me for stating how things are. I don't pass any judgement on if this is "good" or "bad" behavior. However, there is an evolutionary explanation for this: "People who don't fit with your community are outsiders. Outsiders can be friend or foe. Be suspicious of them."
Nobody would be scared of what they were wearing if they were at a Hackathon or some place where "this is normal". But they were at an airport. That isn't normal for an airport.
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. If I saw someone walking around with a bunch of electronics draped over themselves it wouldn't cross my mind to be afraid of them; as a result, I wouldn't have thought twice about doing it (until this and the other more recently publicized case of freakouts.) It's not as if there's…
>It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. I don't agree with this claim. In fact, I think it's extremely easy to identify what might scare other people. So much so that it can be reduced to a single question: "Is this outside the norm?" Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all…
> Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all over you
So not only do you agree she deserved to be arrested, you also claim that anyone with tattoos and/or piercings who goes to an airport should also be arrested?
Unbelievable.
Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc.
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. I don't agree with this claim. In fact, I think it's extremely easy to identify what might scare other people. So much so that it can be reduced to a single question: "Is this outside the norm?" Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all…
> Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all over you So not only do you agree she deserved to be arrested, you also claim that anyone with tattoos and/or piercings who goes to an airport should also be arrested? Unbelievable. Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc.
I'm not sure how you read my post and got that message out of it without purposefully being dishonest.
>Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc.
You even explicitly went out of your way to ignore what I said.
>Now before anyone tries to wage some sort of moral war against me for stating how things are. I don't pass any judgement on if this is "good" or "bad" behavior.
Take your moral war elsewhere, because I'm not interested in this discussion. I'm stating how things are. Not how they "should" be. Not how you want them to be. Not how I want them to be. How they currently are. "What they are" and "what they should be" are not the same thing. Am I being patronizing enough to make my point crystal clear?
>never daring to be creative
This is a strawman. Dare to be creative at hackathons and art conventions - not an airport. Ever heard the phrase "time and place"?
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. I don't agree with this claim. In fact, I think it's extremely easy to identify what might scare other people. So much so that it can be reduced to a single question: "Is this outside the norm?" Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all…
> Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all over you So not only do you agree she deserved to be arrested, you also claim that anyone with tattoos and/or piercings who goes to an airport should also be arrested? Unbelievable. Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc.
Scare people...not arrestable. I think you misread what was written.
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#9Looking at pics of what she was wearing, I think it's sad that she still doesn't realize she was reckless. I'm not saying she deserved everything that happened to her, but wearing a breadboard with a cluster of lights and a 9v hanging off your chest, at an airport, might be the very definition of reckless. Ok, I get it, you're a maker. That doesn't give you the right to scare the shit out of people. Would it be ok fo…
It's not super easy to figure out what things other people might be scared of if it never occurred to you to be scared of them yourself. If I saw someone walking around with a bunch of electronics draped over themselves it wouldn't cross my mind to be afraid of them; as a result, I wouldn't have thought twice about doing it (until this and the other more recently publicized case of freakouts.) It's not as if there's…
Airport and schools have been targets of shootings and bombings. This isn't some wild eyed paranoia.
While it nice to know some people would rather literally die than be politically incorrect, I prefer to take caution around people I perceive to be a threat.
Again, look at the pics of her "device" and her for that matter. A crude triggering mechanism wouldn't look much different from a distance.
Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan
#10Is this ( http://i2.wp.com/boingboing.net/images/cfa4827569_20070921de... ) the hoodie that Star Simpson was wearing? I could understand the police being a little suspicious. If you are going to do any electronic project, you need to hide anything other than your display/LEDs.
I could understand MIT distancing itself from what would have been a PR stshow because of how obviously threatening that device looks.
If anyone is wondering where I found this image, it can be located here ( http://boingboing.net/2007/09/21/mit-student-arrested.html ). It seems hard to find a photo of this with any article on the subject. It took a bit of digging to find that few year old BoingBoing story. This link also contains more details on the incident that were not covered in the story.