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That tells you about as much as you need to know about the guy, doesn't it? Incredibly successful, and yet a penny pinching tasteless bore until the bitter end

That tells you about as much as you need to know about the guy, doesn't it? Incredibly successful, and yet a penny pinching tasteless bore until the bitter end. At least "robber barons" of the past built things that looked good. That he's worshiped around these parts of the internet is truly embarrassing and sometimes makes me question how I ended up here.

kypro 3y ago
I actually agreed with his reasoning on this and don't think it was motivated by greed at all. Firstly it would have been cheaper for the students. But secondly and more importantly, the buildings did have windows, it was only the dorms themselves which didn't, but the reasoning for this was that were primarily built for sleeping so he argued they didn't need windows. And not requiring windows meant that each student would get their own room and would not need to share. The building was designed so that when not sleeping the students would make use of the communal areas which did have windows. You don't have to like it, but it wasn't a completely stupid idea. The main problem really was just that the idea of a billionaire who wanted to build dorms without windows to save on development costs was too tasty of a story for the media to not run with.
- _zoltan_ 3y ago
  have you ever been to a dorm? do you think people just sleep there? especially a couple thousand people?
  - stickfigure 3y ago
    That's probably the whole point - they "just sleep" in their small single occupancy rooms and do most of their socializing in attractive common areas. If you're wondering how the kids are going to hook up - well, window or not, single-occupancy beats the hell out of literal room-mates, which was my dorm experience. And we sure as hell found a way. If you ask students whether they'd rather have a windowless private room or a shared room with a window, what do you think the breakdown will be?
    - pjscott 3y ago
      According to Munger that was, indeed, the whole point. His dorm design focused on making the common areas nice places where people would enjoy spending time, while optimizing the dorm rooms for bed-related activities. It seems like a reasonable strategy.
      - phone8675309 3y ago
        Unless you’re an introvert in which case this design is maximally wrong.
        autoexec 3y ago
        You don't even need to be an introvert to want a quiet place to study that isn't also as dark as a closet and entirely without fresh air.
        phone8675309 3y ago
        Yes, but I'm trying to phrase my response in a way that even the most unrepentant of sociopaths can understand.
        andyferris 3y ago
        Though I doubt introverts desire a roommate, either. Ideally the common areas are plentiful enough that you can enjoy some solitude outside of the sleeping room (at least for some of the day).
        pjscott 3y ago
        There are other dormitories on campus. One size doesn't fit all, but you've got to work on the margin.
  - reducesuffering 3y ago
    Two years and two roommates, they literally only spent their time in our shared room when they went to bed. 95% of waking hours, they were in communal area or classes. Myself, on the other hand, I liked my window and full room for half the price. Although we really need to figure out the communal area for society, because bars, parks, and cafes in the US are not even close to cutting it for how communal people are in college.
- Kaibeezy 3y ago
  Speaking as a person with an architecture degree, it is, in my opinion, plainly a completely stupid idea. I cannot imagine one person I have ever met with similar professional training who would consider it anything other than completely stupid. As a person who hasn’t paid any attention to his corner of the finance sector, this horrible dorm was my introduction to the man. My immediate conclusion was that he rose to the level of his incompetence. I may yet read his speech on decisionmaking biases, but it will be with a degree of skepticism about whether it is cooked in its own juices.
  - therealdrag0 3y ago
    Get off your high horse. You don’t know what everybody wants. To choose between having a dorm mate or having no windows I would absolutely pick no windows.
    - Kaibeezy 3y ago
      It’s not a high horse, it’s an educated horse. If you want to live in a box, go for it. Students, especially poor ones, don’t always have a meaningful choice in the matter. Why not make the coffin-rooms half height too? People sleep lying down, right? All that wasted space.
  - infecto 3y ago
    What buildings have you designed with your degree?
    - Kaibeezy 3y ago
      More than Charlie Munger.
      - infecto 3y ago
        I take that has having done nothing then. Its ok, surprising though because of how low class your comment was.
- davidivadavid 3y ago
  But it's not so much a "story" considering the reasoning is still motivated by cost savings. I don't really care to condemn "greed", to be honest. I'm mostly baffled by how terrible those rich people are at spending money. Why doesn't a billionaire like Charlie Munger want to be remembered for building the most lavish building with the most incredible experience ever on the campus, instead of the one that optimizes for a problem with constraints that are mostly made up ("it might cost too much money for Charlie Munger")? It's just straight up dumb.

kypro 3y ago

I actually agreed with his reasoning on this and don't think it was motivated by greed at all. Firstly it would have been cheaper for the students. But secondly and more importantly, the buildings did have windows, it was only the dorms themselves which didn't, but the reasoning for this was that were primarily built for sleeping so he argued they didn't need windows. And not requiring windows meant that each student would get their own room and would not need to share. The building was designed so that when not sleeping the students would make use of the communal areas which did have windows. You don't have to like it, but it wasn't a completely stupid idea. The main problem really was just that the idea of a billionaire who wanted to build dorms without windows to save on development costs was too tasty of a story for the media to not run with.

_zoltan_ 3y ago
have you ever been to a dorm? do you think people just sleep there? especially a couple thousand people?
- stickfigure 3y ago
  That's probably the whole point - they "just sleep" in their small single occupancy rooms and do most of their socializing in attractive common areas. If you're wondering how the kids are going to hook up - well, window or not, single-occupancy beats the hell out of literal room-mates, which was my dorm experience. And we sure as hell found a way. If you ask students whether they'd rather have a windowless private room or a shared room with a window, what do you think the breakdown will be?
  - pjscott 3y ago
    According to Munger that was, indeed, the whole point. His dorm design focused on making the common areas nice places where people would enjoy spending time, while optimizing the dorm rooms for bed-related activities. It seems like a reasonable strategy.
    - phone8675309 3y ago
      Unless you’re an introvert in which case this design is maximally wrong.
      - autoexec 3y ago
        You don't even need to be an introvert to want a quiet place to study that isn't also as dark as a closet and entirely without fresh air.
        phone8675309 3y ago
        Yes, but I'm trying to phrase my response in a way that even the most unrepentant of sociopaths can understand.
      - andyferris 3y ago
        Though I doubt introverts desire a roommate, either. Ideally the common areas are plentiful enough that you can enjoy some solitude outside of the sleeping room (at least for some of the day).
      - pjscott 3y ago
        There are other dormitories on campus. One size doesn't fit all, but you've got to work on the margin.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  Two years and two roommates, they literally only spent their time in our shared room when they went to bed. 95% of waking hours, they were in communal area or classes. Myself, on the other hand, I liked my window and full room for half the price. Although we really need to figure out the communal area for society, because bars, parks, and cafes in the US are not even close to cutting it for how communal people are in college.
Kaibeezy 3y ago
Speaking as a person with an architecture degree, it is, in my opinion, plainly a completely stupid idea. I cannot imagine one person I have ever met with similar professional training who would consider it anything other than completely stupid. As a person who hasn’t paid any attention to his corner of the finance sector, this horrible dorm was my introduction to the man. My immediate conclusion was that he rose to the level of his incompetence. I may yet read his speech on decisionmaking biases, but it will be with a degree of skepticism about whether it is cooked in its own juices.
- therealdrag0 3y ago
  Get off your high horse. You don’t know what everybody wants. To choose between having a dorm mate or having no windows I would absolutely pick no windows.
  - Kaibeezy 3y ago
    It’s not a high horse, it’s an educated horse. If you want to live in a box, go for it. Students, especially poor ones, don’t always have a meaningful choice in the matter. Why not make the coffin-rooms half height too? People sleep lying down, right? All that wasted space.
- infecto 3y ago
  What buildings have you designed with your degree?
  - Kaibeezy 3y ago
    More than Charlie Munger.
    - infecto 3y ago
      I take that has having done nothing then. Its ok, surprising though because of how low class your comment was.
davidivadavid 3y ago
But it's not so much a "story" considering the reasoning is still motivated by cost savings. I don't really care to condemn "greed", to be honest. I'm mostly baffled by how terrible those rich people are at spending money. Why doesn't a billionaire like Charlie Munger want to be remembered for building the most lavish building with the most incredible experience ever on the campus, instead of the one that optimizes for a problem with constraints that are mostly made up ("it might cost too much money for Charlie Munger")? It's just straight up dumb.