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>"This has the potential to be really devastating" First - Devastating for who? If the most powerful brands in the USA are incorrectly perceived as being uncor

by djloche 12y ago

>"This has the potential to be really devastating" First - Devastating for who? If the most powerful brands in the USA are incorrectly perceived as being uncorrupted, would it benefit society if the truth reveals their corruption? Consider an example: Pennsylvania State University's reputation is likely tarnished beyond repair for the current generation. This is a good thing - because the University's representatives endorsed and covered up years of child molestation. Society benefits as a whole when corruption is revealed. People are able to make better decisions when they have sufficient information. Second: I think your estimate about the lack of perceived corruption is far high. University admissions is perceived as highly as the NSA is today. People understand that while academics and test scores might get you in the door, the system is broken by unofficial (and official) favoritism and quotas. Unfortunately, the political dividing lines in the USA are such that half the voters endorse (directly or indirectly) such 'broken' non-academic admissions policies. As such, there won't be any breaking news about revelations that university admissions are broken.

freditup 12y ago
I think you're overestimating the effect of the exposure of corruption. Take for example, your example, Penn State. I'm not sure how much hard data there is one these things, but I'd bet that applications are as high in quantity as ever [0], job opportunities after graduation are as good as ever, and Penn State revenue has been barely affected [1]. Or perhaps people are just willing to isolate their judgement and only mentally penalize those actually involved with the scandal instead of all the professors and students. [0]: http://onwardstate.com/2014/04/30/penn-state-application-numbers-surge-up-10000-from-2013/ http://onwardstate.com/2014/04/30/penn-state-application-num... [1]: http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-report-values-nittany-lions-at-just-over-a-half-billion,1462448/ http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-footb... Note on source 1: this only shows that Penn State's football revenue, most likely the hardest hit area hasn't declined much. Edit: I see you only said Penn State's reputation was tarnished beyond repair. Question then is if there are no practical consequences of that, is the reputation really tarnished?

by djloche 12y ago

freditup 12y ago

I think you're overestimating the effect of the exposure of corruption. Take for example, your example, Penn State. I'm not sure how much hard data there is one these things, but I'd bet that applications are as high in quantity as ever [0], job opportunities after graduation are as good as ever, and Penn State revenue has been barely affected [1]. Or perhaps people are just willing to isolate their judgement and only mentally penalize those actually involved with the scandal instead of all the professors and students. [0]: http://onwardstate.com/2014/04/30/penn-state-application-numbers-surge-up-10000-from-2013/ http://onwardstate.com/2014/04/30/penn-state-application-num... [1]: http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-report-values-nittany-lions-at-just-over-a-half-billion,1462448/ http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-footb... Note on source 1: this only shows that Penn State's football revenue, most likely the hardest hit area hasn't declined much. Edit: I see you only said Penn State's reputation was tarnished beyond repair. Question then is if there are no practical consequences of that, is the reputation really tarnished?