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> But I found that a higher level of formality improved my students' learning. My larger classes ran more smoothly. This is the crux of the article, and he pro

> But I found that a higher level of formality improved my students' learning. My larger classes ran more smoothly. This is the crux of the article, and he provides no proof to back it up. The article says that this is an "experiment", but how did the professor log his activities? How did he measure the change in his student's perception? How did he isolate the variables of his own bias vs. the impact of new clothes vs. the impact of formal clothes? My personal opinion is that fashion is a gigantic waste of time. In any and all venues. Clothing should be first and foremost for utility. Part of that utility is creating a personal brand, which the author has stumbled upon here in his "experiment". While I'm not a fan, Steve Jobs had a great outlook on this, and is well known by his jeans-and-turtleneck look. This is an amazing insight into clothes in my opinion: Jobs found an outfit that worked, and then simplified everything in his life related to clothing. Image how easy laundry, the decision on what to wear for the day, moving, and ownership of clothes would be if you had a single, standard type of clothing to wear? Imagine how much easier it is to standardize social interactions with other people around you? You'll never have to worry about wearing 'nice' clothes again, because ALL your clothes are exactly the same.

jamesaguilar 13y ago
You are aware that words have various meanings, right? This guy is not talking about an experiment in the formal, scientific sense of the word. Also, you are incorrect about whether this is the crux of the article. As you can clearly see from how much time is spent on each part, this is merely a happy side effect to what was a personal development for him. > My personal opinion is that fashion is a gigantic waste of time. In any and all venues. I'm not sure what you mean by waste of time. Do you mean it in the sense of, "Not something I would prefer to do?" Or do you mean it in the sense of, "Ineffective for all purposes?" One of these two meanings is demonstrably false. > While I'm not a fan, Steve Jobs had a great outlook on this, and is well known by his jeans-and-turtleneck look. I think Ryan Gosling's character in Crazy, Stupid, Love had a great outlook on Steve Jobs' outlook on fashion. "Hold on, are you the billionaire owner of Apple Computer? No? Then you've got no right to wear New Balance sneakers, ever." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwjcpEEkPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwjcpEEkPs
breadbox 13y ago
Seriously, HN seems to get one or more of these comments every time someone dares to describe some personal adventure as an "experiment". The implication seems to be that if you don't have a statistically significant control group, you should just not say anything, I guess. You are correct that his anecdote doesn't actually prove anything. I rather doubt this is news to anyone, including the author.
overgryphon 13y ago
> My personal opinion is that fashion is a gigantic waste of time. In any and all venues. In my own (one person, non-experimental) experience, it significantly changes the way people interact with me. That can make a huge difference over time.

jamesaguilar 13y ago

You are aware that words have various meanings, right? This guy is not talking about an experiment in the formal, scientific sense of the word. Also, you are incorrect about whether this is the crux of the article. As you can clearly see from how much time is spent on each part, this is merely a happy side effect to what was a personal development for him. > My personal opinion is that fashion is a gigantic waste of time. In any and all venues. I'm not sure what you mean by waste of time. Do you mean it in the sense of, "Not something I would prefer to do?" Or do you mean it in the sense of, "Ineffective for all purposes?" One of these two meanings is demonstrably false. > While I'm not a fan, Steve Jobs had a great outlook on this, and is well known by his jeans-and-turtleneck look. I think Ryan Gosling's character in Crazy, Stupid, Love had a great outlook on Steve Jobs' outlook on fashion. "Hold on, are you the billionaire owner of Apple Computer? No? Then you've got no right to wear New Balance sneakers, ever." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwjcpEEkPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwjcpEEkPs

breadbox 13y ago

Seriously, HN seems to get one or more of these comments every time someone dares to describe some personal adventure as an "experiment". The implication seems to be that if you don't have a statistically significant control group, you should just not say anything, I guess. You are correct that his anecdote doesn't actually prove anything. I rather doubt this is news to anyone, including the author.

overgryphon 13y ago

> My personal opinion is that fashion is a gigantic waste of time. In any and all venues. In my own (one person, non-experimental) experience, it significantly changes the way people interact with me. That can make a huge difference over time.