[kough]

MIT is in the process of converting its brand's value into money. It's interesting, because the brand is so strong that they probably can announce even more stupid "quests" and "initiatives" and "labs" (like the IBM "collaboration") to extract value from industry without seriously harming the quality of the students who apply. But as a current student it's kind of heartbreaking. This place has been so special for so long. But even MIT cannot hold out against the corporate cancer that's been spreading through higher education for the last twenty years.

EDIT: just wanted to add, I'd love to ask the marketing team behind this site how they came up with quest. What the fuck is a quest, and how is it different than all of these researchers just doing whatever they wanted, anyway? MIT isn't funding these labs directly in most cases and the work has been ongoing, it's just a branding exercise.

[rdl]

MIT has been in decline since the 1980s. I attribute it to hiring professional education people as administrators, rather than MIT alums as administrators and as equal partners in running the institution. The end of the Cold War and decline in defense research funding might be a factor, too. I was at MIT in the late 90s and I could see it getting worse even over a few years.

It is still decent in bio, some of the graduate institutes, etc, but the core engineering school isn’t the MIT of engineering anymore. My employee friends largely agree.

[zitterbewegung]

Colleges are businesses that deal in information and knowledge for money.

[koopuluri]

Colleges are businesses that provide a signal of competence, and a network of peers who also want that signal, in exchange for money.

[kough]

Yes, and?

[zaptheimpaler]

I don't see anything super wrong about marketing & presenting a research endeavor. I mean its a lot more accessible than a 10 year old website by a professor with a bunch of links to papers, and if it helps get people from different fields, and across academia and industry collaborate then great.

[drharby]

What makes MIT so special?

They do what they do exceptionally well but arent THAT different.

Its all branding - and I say that having taught there for 3 years.

Love wandering those halls.

[azinman2]

Disagree. The culture is special, and that culture is what drives specific change. The bar is high, and because everyone around you is pushing themselves you end up pushing yourself further than you might have otherwise. The culture pushes you to think big and think impact. The institute gives you such permission to grow your ego in order to grow your work. Having Harvard nearby creates an even more special atmosphere as your social life often involves mixing with others on an intellectual level that spans subject matter. To me that’s just some of the magic.

[kough]

I also couldn't put my finger on any specific difference, but it really does feel like the halls have a magic to them.

(current undergrad, I'm sure you have more insight into what's going on)

[sgt101]

I think q, iq..

someone has to grab the steering wheel, and it can be mit and other responsible adults, or it could be a bunch of hair brained insert rude word folks of the sort that hijacked neurosciences (hbp anyone) or, God protect us the European semantic web community. They are in the offices of the great and good as we speak, extracting your tax dollars.