It's been years since I saw "The Paper Chase", but IIRC, the students at Harvard break into the library and steal the class notes (from long ago) of the great Professor Kingsfield. Having these notes, they are sure, will reveal to them the deep secrets of Contract Law.
Of course, when they look at them, they learn that his notes are a lot like anybody's notes. The secret to the knowledge isn't in the notes -- it's in the minds of the people who think deeply on the subject.
That being said, I think MIT is doing a good thing here. It's not the Holy Grail, but it still has value.
Exactly. Lecture notes don't tell the whole story. That's what the professor is supposed to do--fill in the information between the lines.
"It's been years since I saw "The Paper Chase", but IIRC, the students at Harvard break into the library and steal the class notes (from long ago) of the great Professor Kingsfield. Having these notes, they are sure, will reveal to them the deep secrets of Contract Law.
Of course, when they look at them, they learn that his notes are a lot like anybody's notes. The secret to the knowledge isn't in the notes -- it's in the minds of the people who think deeply on the subject."
As I recall, their objective was to peer into the mind of Professor Kingsfield, to understand how HE thought, not the deep secrets of Contract Law. They were successful, as the scene in the classroom demonstrated...nonplussed Kingsfield.