5 ms·

This story comes up every now and then; I have a hard time seeing it as a “scandal”. It’s nothing more than a piece of historical anatomical pseudoscience that

This story comes up every now and then; I have a hard time seeing it as a “scandal”. It’s nothing more than a piece of historical anatomical pseudoscience that happens to tickle the salacious fancies of puritan America with the proximity of “nudity” and the names of recognizable celebrities. Might as well be phrenology otherwise.

yongjik 13y ago
Taking nude photos of an entire generation of college freshmen (without proper consent) is not scandalous? Sure, it's not at the level of secret Plutonium injection, but still...
- duaneb 13y ago
  I don't think it's been scandalous for about four decades. Even when it was happening it was an open secret. I don't think 'scandal' ever truly applied; that implies surprise.
- stephencanon 13y ago
  The phrase "nude photos", for better or worse, tends to make people think that there was some prurient interest in taking them. As far as any of the published accounts go, there wasn't; this was simply Not Very Good Science. It's certainly preferable to have consent before gathering clinical data, but I wouldn't make too big of a deal out of this. In the annals of things done without proper consent, this barely registers.
- JoeAltmaier 13y ago
  Nonsense. All were essentially volunteers. Nobody held a gun to their head; they just put it on a schedule, and the freshmen lined up to comply. Its actually amusing; these captains of industry were such sheep when they were young. Makes you wonder when they grew a backbone, if at all.
  - ics 13y ago
    It's hard to reach the top of your game if you're not willing to play.
  - jpatokal 13y ago
    I wonder what happened if you refused and held your ground? Somebody must have during all those years.
  - yongjik 13y ago
    Seriously? "Nobody held a gun to their head" is your criterion? For guys and gals fresh out of high school? Will you also tell me that employees can't sue for unpaid overtime, hazardous work environment, sexual harassment etc. because nobody held a gun and they could always quit? Such sheep, those common workers.
  - etler 13y ago
    Maybe those posture classes helped?
pak 13y ago
It draws my interest because of the obvious parallels to the millions of backscatter pictures taken by the TSA over the past decade, many of which are naked pictures of children and the elderly. The overwhelming majority of Americans consent to having these pictures taken before getting on a plane. The sort of group psychology and doublethink that allows us to ridicule this dated pseudoscience on one hand, while walking right into a similar situation in every American airport today, is inherently fascinating.

yongjik 13y ago

Taking nude photos of an entire generation of college freshmen (without proper consent) is not scandalous? Sure, it's not at the level of secret Plutonium injection, but still...

duaneb 13y ago
I don't think it's been scandalous for about four decades. Even when it was happening it was an open secret. I don't think 'scandal' ever truly applied; that implies surprise.
stephencanon 13y ago
The phrase "nude photos", for better or worse, tends to make people think that there was some prurient interest in taking them. As far as any of the published accounts go, there wasn't; this was simply Not Very Good Science. It's certainly preferable to have consent before gathering clinical data, but I wouldn't make too big of a deal out of this. In the annals of things done without proper consent, this barely registers.
JoeAltmaier 13y ago
Nonsense. All were essentially volunteers. Nobody held a gun to their head; they just put it on a schedule, and the freshmen lined up to comply. Its actually amusing; these captains of industry were such sheep when they were young. Makes you wonder when they grew a backbone, if at all.
- ics 13y ago
  It's hard to reach the top of your game if you're not willing to play.
- jpatokal 13y ago
  I wonder what happened if you refused and held your ground? Somebody must have during all those years.
- yongjik 13y ago
  Seriously? "Nobody held a gun to their head" is your criterion? For guys and gals fresh out of high school? Will you also tell me that employees can't sue for unpaid overtime, hazardous work environment, sexual harassment etc. because nobody held a gun and they could always quit? Such sheep, those common workers.
- etler 13y ago
  Maybe those posture classes helped?

pak 13y ago

It draws my interest because of the obvious parallels to the millions of backscatter pictures taken by the TSA over the past decade, many of which are naked pictures of children and the elderly. The overwhelming majority of Americans consent to having these pictures taken before getting on a plane. The sort of group psychology and doublethink that allows us to ridicule this dated pseudoscience on one hand, while walking right into a similar situation in every American airport today, is inherently fascinating.