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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 b

by gacba 15y ago

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 worth the input. It really rubs me wrong that the OP believes that MIT is responsible for certain actions that are really up to the individual. - You are the only one responsible for cultivating a moral compass. A college can require an ethics course, but whether you absorb any of it or not will be entirely on you. - MIT didn't fail him any more than any other institution. It's not MIT's job to give him or anyone social skills. Again, see point #1, it's on you to do something about it. I get the point of the article and the general depravity of the site he started, but seriously, is MIT responsible for this or simply collateral damage in this article's bomb crater? What if Ted Bundy, or Osama Bin Laden graduated from MIT? Is it MIT's fault that they are sociopathic too?

esrauch 15y ago
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.

by gacba 15y ago

esrauch 15y ago

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.