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It is probably true that people who scholastic reputation will try to make up for it in other ways. However the problem is that there may be too much authority
by codexon 17y ago
It is probably true that people who scholastic reputation will try to make up for it in other ways. However the problem is that there may be too much authority placed in these usual standards of achievements.
Philip forgets that people with academic credentials like himself are being smug when they complain about others. If your academic credentials represent you so well, why should it bother you if someone is simply acting?
Another disingenuous behavior he describes is hiding that you went to a reputable school like Harvard.
The reason people are afraid of living up to "artificially higher" expectations is because their school's reputation really is artificially high. What these type of people want is to have the "Harvard" reputation when it suits them, and the average Joe culpability should they ever fail. They want to further perpetuate the image of superiority that Harvard/Stanford entails without letting the public correct their perception that going to one of these top schools does not make you a Godly Genius.
- scott_s 17y agoI don't think hiding you went to a prestigious school has to be disingenuous. I can be, but it doesn't have to be. I have a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is a mid-level rank, but it's also the point where a competitor is considered advanced. In tournaments that don't use belt level but Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, I compete Advanced. If I talk to a stranger about BJJ, I never start out with "I have a purple belt." I am going out of my way to avoid sounding like a braggart. I am not worried about failing to live up to my rank, but I am worried about appearing like a jerk.
- codexon 17y agoWhat you are saying is completely different from someone asking you "What college did you go to", and responding vaguely "Boston" when most people just say the name of the school.
- pgbovine 17y agoyes, "Boston" would be a disingenuous reply to "What college did you go to". But it would not be a disingenuous reply to "Where did you attend college?" Some people I know say "in China" or "in Canada" ... "in Boston" is just as legit of an answer, and often one that makes people not roll their eyes at you nearly as much as if you say "HAHHHHHHH-VARD!"
- codexon 17y agoIts also customary to say which college you attended if they ask you "where". I also don't know anyone that says HAHHHHHHH-VARD, STANNNN-FAHD or M-AHH-TTTTT. This pseudo-snobbery is all in your head. If you keep hiding the fact that you are from a top school in order to dissociate fallibility with Stanford, this sort of sentiment will continue.
- scott_s 17y agoYou guessed that he avoids mentioning his school by name to avoid the high expectations along with it. To operate that this guess has to be true is, at best, disingenuous.
- codexon 17y agoThis is not a guess. This is factual evidence as publicly admitted by many people like Conan O'Brien. And I should add that I also went to a top school, so its not like I am making this stuff up.
- scott_s 17y agoThat's anecdotal evidence, and you're assuming it also applies to this person.
- codexon 17y agoWhat do you think Philip's article is? Its a generalization of people with anecdotal evidence. This is not about Philip himself. I'm not sure why you brought him up specifically in the first place.
- indiejade 17y agoWhat these type of people want is to have the "Harvard" reputation when it suits them, and the average Joe culpability should they ever fail. Bingo. Elitists tend to focus conversations around where they are going or went to school, where they work, or "who they know". Conversely, the genuinely smart / non-elitists get more excited talking about what subjects of University studies interest them. The minute the issue of "studied @'_____'" enters the conversation, the conversation has taken on an element of ego, elitism and inferiority that detracts from the interesting subject at hand. Imho, these "Ivy League" (or whatever they're called these days) Universities are entirely overrated. Not to mention overpriced! In fact, it seems kind of stupid these days to expend the amount of $ demanded by them on a piece of paper that, thanks to libraries and the Internet, can be whatever you want to make it.
- elblanco 17y agoIt's amazing what people pay to go to school. I've known people who did their entire undergrad and master's programs for what someone might pay for a year at a top school. Even figuring in the higher starting salary, the pay gap closes pretty darn fast for that pedigree to be worth it.