tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post5158465085393891093..comments2024-03-20T13:10:11.477+05:30Comments on nanopolitan: William Deresiewicz: The disadvantages of an elite educationAbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06790560045313883673noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-3358263619784901472008-07-30T18:02:00.000+05:302008-07-30T18:02:00.000+05:30Anon 1: Once again, I am not in favour of broad br...Anon 1: Once again, I am not in favour of broad brush generalizations. While there is much truth in what Deresiewicz says, I believe the elite universities do continue to attract their fair share (probably more than their fair share) of talented students. On any yardstick, the elite universities continue to do well; so, I am not sure that I would take the kind of cynical view you seem to believe in.<BR/><BR/>Anon 2: Thanks for that pointer.<BR/><BR/>Blue: Yes, I too was appalled that Deresiewicz started with that Plumber epidode. But, his article did get better after that, didn't it?Abihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06790560045313883673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-24139494364730467622008-07-30T06:30:00.000+05:302008-07-30T06:30:00.000+05:30Although Deresiewicz makes several good points, he...Although Deresiewicz makes several good points, he ruins his credibility in his first paragraph:<BR/><BR/>"There [the plumber] was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn’t succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work."<BR/><BR/>Seriously? Nothing about the weather, the traffic, the sports team? No self-deprecating jokes about "if I tried to fix it myself I'd flood my kitchen?" The issue isn't "Ivy League can't communicate with Plumber;" it's "Deresiewicz never learned basic social skills."Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13875686468126571113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-9950044447495510642008-07-30T01:36:00.000+05:302008-07-30T01:36:00.000+05:30OK -- I see you read it before my comment on your ...OK -- I see you read it before my comment on your latest post. Ignore/delete it.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-15888946602522407692008-07-29T05:01:00.000+05:302008-07-29T05:01:00.000+05:30There are two possible "prestige lines" in academi...There are two possible "prestige lines" in academia, one based on schools, and one based on publications. Now:<BR/><BR/>Scene One: Ace SAT/GRE, get into one of the top schools, graduate with not much publications, but still join another top school faculty, based on your ivy league certificate and letters.<BR/><BR/>Scene Two: Get average SAT/GRE scores, go to average school, graduate with publications in high impact journals, but join average school faculty, because the top schools consider certificates more important than publications. In other words, they don't want people with "University of XXX" walking around the holy precincts, potentially laughed at by the (rich ) entitled undergrads.<BR/><BR/>In **some** cases, the top school folks also publish in high impact journals, in which case more power to them. But this is not always the case. The grade inflation and the incestuous hiring is the cartel route to keep the prestige image going. Kinda like the chic story -- chic is what chic people find chic.<BR/><BR/>In general, there are two kinds of smart people: processors (do complex calculations fast -- the GRE acers) and generators (develop new and interesting ways of solving problems or looking at things -- the paper publishers). In some cases the two occur together, but not always. <BR/><BR/>Ideally, academic hiring, both students and faculty, should seek out the last group, then the second group, and only finally the first one. Unfortunately, the order is 3,1,2 now. This has a lot to do with the funding climate and the general rat-race in academia these days -- faculty is not looking for original students, but people who can solve problems quickly. And the cycle continues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com