>Historically, MIT faculty were nerds into neat tech problems.

Computer Science used to be for nerds that were into neat tech problems. Now it's just seen the same as business/law/finance/whatever. And accordingly, we now have a deluge of CS graduates that want nothing to do with tech and simply move into management as fast as possible.

Do you know of some place where there are still nerds into neat tech problems?

Less popular but still hardcore places like Carnegie Mellon, Caltech, some state schools like Ohio State, UMich come to mind. Just stay away from woke ivy league

FYi, MIT is not Ivy League.

Caltech's still the real deal.

You need to leave the US and look at European Unis. EPFL, ETH Zürich, Delft, TÜ Berlin/Munich.

I’ve suspected this. There was always some seed corn of this type at MIT, even in the old days. I got SB, 1968-72. Hacker was a new word, and nerd was often spelled with a “u.” It would have been unthinkable to try to prosecute Jonathan Swartz then.

Aaron Swartz you mean.

though Jonathan Schwartz did get metoo'd (not prosecuted) and kicked off WNYC

Sorry, you are of course right.

Can you elaborate on what "Enron-style vibe" means when describing university faculty?

- Academic fraud

- Clever financial schemes and complex conflicts-of-interest

- Incredible salesmanship relative to the amount of substance

- ... and so on.

I've seen criminal activity there too (which I can't elaborate on), but I suspect the Institute is waiting for an Enron-style collapse. It will be a soft landing. The endowment is obscene at this point; the Institute can weather a lot.

People who make decisions using powerpoint slides?

form over substance

has been reflected in the student body as well in some ways? tia