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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Many would point out that elite schools are filled with creative people, since these schools have a very rich pipeline into the culture and entertainment industries.

Of course, the counterargument is that whatever our culture and entertainment industries appear to be producing is absolute garbage. Harvard seems to attract a lot of comedians and so on, and yet none of them are actually funny.  [/quote]

You sound like a joy to be around…you don’t like any popular movies or tv shows and even the comedians that have enough of a national following such that they are known…you don’t find funny.

You must be the life of the party.[/quote]

You like Conan O'Brien?  [/quote]

DP. I'm pretty sure Conan O'Brien went to Harvard in the 80s, back when the Harvard Lampoon was basically a feeder program for SNL and other late night shows. The Harvard of today does not have anywhere near the chaotic energy of the 80s and 90s. Stanford is the same way. It was once the fun school for nerds. And now it's a desultory pit stop for those yearning for a job at a VC firm on Sand Hill Road. Both schools made decisions to really clamp down on anything that might be remotely considered offensive or non-inclusive. And as a consequence, both schools are very lame and boring today.

I don't think that holds true of all T20s though. But Harvard and Stanford in particular no longer encourage risk-takers or unconventional thinkers. They are safe spaces for a certain kind of conformity. I'm sure other selective colleges are more interesting. I'd imagine Brown, Rice, UCLA, MIT, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Chicago are all pretty good places for bright, interesting people. And probably much better overall than lower tier schools. [/quote]

Agreed, but do you really think this was a result of the administration attempting to crack down on anything offensive or non-inclusive?  My sense is that these institutions are simply tracking larger changes in the capitalist western societies.  [/quote]

I think money is the big driver of Harvard and Stanford's embrace of the lame and boring. Since the 90s, finance and tech have been extremely lucrative career choices. And Harvard and Stanford are the brass rings for those choosing that path. Roughly 60 percent of Harvard grads go into finance, consulting or tech. I'm sure Stanford is similar. And that attracts a certain kind of 18 year old, a teenager that really values money and conventional measures of success. Not future comedy writers or other disrupters. The young Conan O'Briens of today are not going to Harvard or Stanford.

But there was also a top-down mandate to get rid of all that once made these schools interesting. Stanford for instance banished the Outdoor House because it didn't attract enough people of color. They also got rid of the Italian House, the French House, and other theme residences explicitly because DEI and all that. In the end, it led to an oppressive environment where everyone is walking on egg shells and fearful of committing micro aggressions. So... not an interesting place anymore. Everyone is very, very timid now. Anyone looking for late night discussions about philosophy or religion or politics or art should not go to Harvard or Stanford. And I say that as someone with a long family history at Stanford.  [/quote]

NP here but I agree that these changes just track larger trends in society. I think nearly every college, from Stanford to community college, has seen reduced intellectual curiosity. Now college kids are more likely to view school as a way to make money (makes sense given the exorbitant cost of college, even at state schools) and spend their free time scrolling through their phones. [/quote]

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