For Whom Do Colleges Exist?

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Seth Roberts poses a fantastic question:

I had never heard it put so clearly. We can ask if governments exist: 1. To improve the lives of the governed. 2. To employ the governors. 3. To help other governments. Similarly, we can ask if colleges exist: 1. To teach the students. 2. To employ the teachers. 3. To help businesses who will eventually employ the students (the signalling function of college).

Suppose we believe that the main function of colleges is to teach the students. How, then, should we improve colleges? By giving mini-grants to teachers (as is done at UC Berkeley, where I teach)? By giving awards to the best teachers (as is done at UC Berkeley)? Or by doing something quite different?

Reminds me of the provocative book What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated?.

The Biggest Secret Knowledge in Business

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Is the stuff that ought to work, but doesn’t.

So says GMU economist Arnold Kling in this interesting TCS Daily article. Kling hits on something I think a lot about which is how common and repetitive the “best practices” of business are. It’s hard to find original insights, even if the insights come after years of research. Perhaps it’s because people focus on too much on success cases instead of failures:

Articulating what works, even for someone as successful as Charles Koch, can have surprisingly little value. Taken out of context, what works will seem obvious. What readers need to know is the larger context, especially what ought to work, but doesn’t.

(hat tip: Jeff Nolan)

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Quotes of the Day from Around the Web

Posted inRandom17 Comments on Quotes of the Day from Around the Web

“Take no pride in your confession that you too are biased; do not glory in your self-awareness of your flaws… [W]e should not gloat over how self-aware we are for confessing them; the occasion for rejoicing is when we have a little less to confess.” – Eliezer Yudkowsky

“For us Germans, the Americans are either too fat or too obsessed with exercise, too prudish or too pornographic, too religious or too nihilistic. In terms of history and foreign policy, the Americans have either been too isolationist or too imperialistic.” – Claus Christian Malzahn, another take on the silliness of anti-Americanism.

“Principle #4: Feed and Starve. All good writing conveys necessary information while simultaneously feeding a hunger for more information.” – From Barry Eisler’s excellent 10 advisements on writing.

“I like meditation, but I worry that buying into a full-on ethos of meditative mindfulness can turn you into a passive milquetoast with no creative edge.” – Will Wilkinson

“There are three types of books in this world: those that make you want to befriend the author, those that make you want to slap the author, and those that make you want to fuck the author.” – Julia Allison in opening her book review of Mergers & Acquisitions. I wonder what kind of author I will be? Hopefully the first, maybe the third, depending.

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Gavin Newsom Fo’ Shizzle My Nizzle

Posted inCurrent Affairs3 Comments on Gavin Newsom Fo’ Shizzle My Nizzle

Our beloved San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom recently demonstrated a strong grasp of ebonics. In this hilarious YouTube video, Gavin joins Hillary Clinton in "talking black" in front of African-American audiences. Hat tip to SFist.

And for those wondering about the title of my post, I can only refer to Urban Dictionary:

"fo shizzle ma nizzle" is a bastardization of "fo’ sheezy mah neezy" which is a bastardization of "for sure mah nigga" which is a bastdardization of "I concur with you whole heartedly my African American brother"

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Bush Humor Monologue at Radio and TV Correspondent’s Dinner

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President Bush delivered a 5 minute humor monologue last night at the Radio and TV Correspondent’s dinner, as is the tradition for the standing president. It’s hilarious. He begins:

“Well …where should I start. A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice president had shot someone.”

It has special resonance for me since a few years ago I read Clinton & Me by President Clinton’s humor speechwriter, Mark Katz, who described in detail how he crafts the jokes the president delivers.

Here’s an analysis of the monologue at Humor Power.

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