I think so, yes? I found one of my great collaborators in life there, and I don’t think I would have found a collaborator of a similar calibre at other universities. It was also a place with opportunity for me to build a great conference as a side-project, which depended on the prestige of the place and the fact that a few key orgs were based around that uni. (I went to Oxford Uni; FHI and CEA were there.)
I am not a hard worker in general, and didn’t work that hard to get there, having a certain level of base IQ was pretty key for me.
Obviously everything the university had me do (or ‘taught me’) was a waste of time, but it was a schelling coordination place for smart and talented and prestige-seeking people.
Added: Not going to uni would also have been a very poor choice for me, I really damn care about immigration access to the US, and a technical degree is basically critical for me to have that.
I think so, yes? I found one of my great collaborators in life there, and I don’t think I would have found a collaborator of a similar calibre at other universities. It was also a place with opportunity for me to build a great conference as a side-project, which depended on the prestige of the place and the fact that a few key orgs were based around that uni. (I went to Oxford Uni; FHI and CEA were there.)
I am not a hard worker in general, and didn’t work that hard to get there, having a certain level of base IQ was pretty key for me.
Obviously everything the university had me do (or ‘taught me’) was a waste of time, but it was a schelling coordination place for smart and talented and prestige-seeking people.
Added: Not going to uni would also have been a very poor choice for me, I really damn care about immigration access to the US, and a technical degree is basically critical for me to have that.