Posted on 09/19/2021 4:14:22 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Are the “smart” people really very smart? That is, do the people who score at the top on standardized tests and then turn up at the fancy universities actually have a superior level of reasoning and rationality that they can apply to solving the problems of the world? Or are they instead just trapped in the same sorts of groupthink and mass irrationality as everyone else?
Well, let’s consider the latest information coming out of Harvard University. Harvard — you can’t get any “smarter” than that. This is America’s premier institution of higher learning. You don’t get to go there unless you are at the very top of the top of intelligence. And the people who run the place have to be even smarter still. If you want to see what “smart” really is, this is where to look.
About a week ago Harvard President Larry Bacow decided it was time to send out one of those occasional missives addressed to all “Members of the Harvard Community.” Likely, you might think, this would be an occasion for Harvard to announce some incremental enhancements to its efforts to fulfill the core mission of educating the students. Hardly. People, this is Harvard — we don’t think small. So instead, the purpose of the communication is to tell us that Harvard is on the front lines in the battle to save the world. Bacow:
Climate change is the most consequential threat facing humanity. . . . We are going to need a little optimism to preserve life on Earth as we know and cherish it today.
And how exactly do we know that “climate change is the most consequential threat facing humanity”? Easy — in the Harvard way, we just look to the evidence before our very eyes:
The last several months have laid at our feet undeniable evidence of the world to come—massive fires that consume entire towns, unprecedented flooding that inundates major urban areas, record heat waves and drought that devastate food supplies and increase water scarcity. Few, if any, parts of the globe are being spared as livelihoods are dashed, lives are lost, and regions are rendered unlivable.
But wait a minute Larry. Is that just apocalyptic rhetoric? Is there actually real evidence that environmental disasters have recently been occurring at some greater rate than they ever have?
If we think that fires and floods and heat waves might prove that we are now facing some kind of climate armageddon caused by sinful human carbon emissions, then perhaps we should look to see if today’s catastrophes are any different from those before the era of human carbon emissions. For example, how about just 90 years ago. The invaluable Tony Heller dredges up this from the Los Angeles Times of September 18, 1931:
The truth is that Larry can’t be bothered to actually try to compare rates of droughts, floods, heat waves, hurricanes or anything else to see if they have gotten better or worse. He’s way too “smart” for that. If you want to get some real statistics, go to this page. Excerpt:
-Heat Waves – have been decreasing since the 1930s in the U.S. and globally.
-Hurricanes – this decade just ended was the second quietest for landfalling. hurricanes and landfalling major hurricanes in the U.S since the 1850s.
-Tornadoes – the number of strong tornadoes has declined over the last half century. More active months occur when unseasonable cold spring patterns are present.
-Droughts and Floods – there has been no statistically significant trend
-Wildfires – decreasing since the very active 1800s. The increase in damage in recent years is due to population growth in vulnerable areas and poor forest management.
But forget climate change and move on to Covid-19. A year and a half into the pandemic, with a lot of data having been accumulated, if there’s one thing we know it’s that mask mandates don’t work. On that subject, here’s one of my favorite charts, with data from Minnesota, from Kevin Roche at Healthy Skeptic via John Hinderaker at PowerLine:
See how well the mask mandate worked in Minnesota? Well, the students are returning to Harvard, and here is the latest advice from the university on “Health & Wellbeing.” Excerpts:
Mask up. Mask indoors and wear your mask properly, fitting securely over your nose, mouth, and chin. Ensure a secure fit around all mask edges. Remove your mask only around your household/suite if possible. . . .
There are special tips for eating and drinking:
Dine in small parties of 2-4 people. Avoid table-hopping. Consider dining consistently with the same people rather than a different group at every meal. Consume your meal and immediately mask up when done.
And you thought that the reason you were attending Harvard was to have the chance to meet a lot of the other students. And then there’s my favorite, the tips for how to drink a beverage while masked:
When drinking, lower your mask, take a sip, and then promptly cover your mouth and nose. If you’re taking your time between bites and sips, put your mask back on.
Obviously they don’t cite any studies or evidence showing that any of this will have any effect. They don’t have to. They’re “smart.”
Mental gymnastics is not even an Olympic sport yet, but the “smart” people are practicing anyway.
Some very intelligent people are at the same time horribly wrong in their world view. But they have had years of thought and study to obtain and back up that wrong thinking.
Some of the massive fires in northern California were caused by a “professor “. You know. One of those fart smell...er I mean smart fellers.
A quick look at what’s happening in their law and a good many of their lib arts departments should tell all.
Many of these very same “smart” people also have the presumption that you are not truly “smart” unless you adopt the progressive attitudes, and move in lockstep with them as they change, sometimes swiftly and at great divergence with the previous rationalizations. (Orwellian doublethink!)
One need not go to Harvard to be truly intelligent, and in fact the indoctrination they undergo there is a DELIBERATE dumbing down of what would otherwise be a very high degree of creativity and logical thinking.
It would be great mischief indeed if a truly intelligent person made the mistake of enrolling in Harvard, or for that matter, the vast majority of institutions of “higher” learning here in the US.
Climate change is real, man made climate change is a fraud.
Anyone who attend Harvard these days is indoctrinated.
Anyone who attends Harvard these days is also a fool for paying many tens of thousands of dollars to be indoctrinated, instead of freely educated.
in other words, thoise who attend Harvard these days are slowly and precisely emotionally enslaved to American Marxist ideology.
Mark Levin reveals how all of this is happening in his new , well researched book, it has over 400 footnotes, " American Marxism."
There are few places of genuine learning and free enquiry these days. Hillsdale College is one.
No books or paper allowed? Heck, I could go there.
Weather varies. The problem is that stupid humans think that weather should be steady, predictable, and without extremes. Mother Nature disagrees. Humans refuse to believe that there can be extremes and do not prepare for the extremes. When the extreme weather happens, as it always does, humans act as if it’s a complete surprise.
We always laughed at how easy it was to pick out the Harvard grads from graduates of other schools because they were the ones who could talk to you about the uvula for six hours (non-stop!) but were clueless if you handed them a pop up umbrella.
It’s still good for an MBA or it’s medical school.
When you realize that “Harvard” is the most preeminent hard core atheist institution in the world, then you understand why the faculty are so self absorbed.
They don’t believe in God, but will believe in everything else. For them, power and control of the little people is all that matters. They fear individualism.
These “professors” are the modern day Hebrews who built the golden calf after the exodus.
Harvard was founded as a seminary by Puritans in 1636.
Nothing has changed—it is still run by fanatical “believers” ready to burn any witches.
Today they worship the Woke Pantheon (which includes the Goddess of Climate Change).
Heretics shall be hunted down and publicly shamed!
“Smart” as compared to what?
Some folks are very quick to grasp some things. Like Xiaoma and other language freaks, they can pick up a conversational level of a language in a few hours.
Some are exceedingly well read and are familiar with broad, cross discipline ideas and concepts. Folks like VDH, Pat Buchanan, Patton, and recent discovery Malice come to mind.
Some like folks at distinguished institutions of higher learning are locked inside closed or highly restricted feedback loops that simply justify what they previously learned and now push out onto the next group of young minds.
It’s still good for an MBA or it’s medical school.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes but to gain admission, you have to be an American Marxist
in your style of life. If you are ex military who does not support trangenderism, you do not get in.So all of your manifestation, engagement has to be solidly American Marxist.
All of the ivy Leagues are like this. If you want a decent education you need to find a place that still teaches History properly, and celebrates the History of Western civilization and its accomplishments, while promoting a diversity of both conservative and liberal views.
Progressive education has only one goal....to indoctrinate via emotional marks of existence, and the requirement to bear witness to that or be cancelled.MArxism buoyed by Critical Theory and the idea of revolutionaly destruction.
You really need to think about it. We had second year law students in the streets of New York committing arson about a year and a half ago.
Progressive education is UnAmerican, treasonous and unpatriotic, not worth a plug nickle. I spit on their shadows and fart in their general direction.
Both of those programs aren’t undergraduate, and I know multiple conservative, prior military officers with Ivy League degrees.(MBA not MD)
They went a decade or so ago, so maybe things have changed.
They went a decade or so ago, so maybe things have changed.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THEY HAVE TO KNOW YOUR WORLD ......iTS NOT ABOUT “ACCOMPLISHMENT.”
MARXIST TRAP 1
“–Essay
There is one question for the Class of 2024 application:
As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?( SIC)
There is no word limit for this question. We think you know what guidance we’re going to give here. ( sic) Don’t overthink, overcraft and overwrite.( SIC) Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don’t know your world can understand.( SIC)
Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional( SIC) essay:
How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words)
(TRAP)
*******************************************
MARXIST TRAP 2
“How well a person knows you should take priority over level of seniority or HBS alumni status.”
THEY WANT TO KNOW YOUR POLITCAL ORIENTATION
–Recommendations (2)
You will need to have two recommendations submitted online by the application deadlines.
Recommenders will be asked to fill out a personal qualities and skills grid and answer our two additional questions (see below).
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all recommendations are submitted online by the deadline date for the round in which the applicant is applying.
Use your best judgment on who you decide to ask - there is no set formula for who should be your recommenders. We know it is not always possible to have a direct supervisor write your recommendation – we would not want you to jeopardize your current position for the application process. Look at the questions we are asking recommenders to complete. Find people who know you well enough to answer them. This can be a former supervisor, a colleague, someone you collaborate on an activity outside of work. How well a person knows you should take priority over level of seniority or HBS alumni status.
Recommender Questions
Recommendations must be completed online. The recommendation form includes the following questions, along with other types of questions:
How do the candidate’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words)
Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250 words)
*******************************************
https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/application-process/Pages/default.aspx
Some 40 years later, they're enduring another "100 year flood." What gives?
100 years ain't what it used to be ... inflation has reduced the value of 100 years to just 40 ...
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