Key Insights
Nerd Identity as a Gatekeeper in Science and Technology Participation
(Nerd Identity at MIT)
Turkle (1984) vividly describes nerd self-identity in her ethnographic study of undergraduate men at MIT. In a social event, “they flaunt their pimples, their pasty complexions, their knobby knees, their thin, underdeveloped bodies.” In interviews, they describe themselves as losers. And loners who have given up bodily pleasure and sexual relations.
The Official MIT Nerd Test
Sex@MIT: The Survey
(Suicides at MIT The Tech 2/20/2001)
Why Mental Health Matters A Student’s Perspective
(Editorial in the MIT The Tech 10/10/2019)
“There is a growing mental health crisis among graduate students, both at MIT and around the country. Thirty-nine percent of graduate students suffer from depression and 41 percent suffer from anxiety. The cloud of mental health issues hangs heavy over the entire MIT community. Far too often, we hear of a community member who has tragically died by suicide. Each suicide reminds us that depression and isolation are not unusual at MIT and have become a pervasive norm.”
Unless your kid is already sleeping with someone, do not send them to MIT.
Hundreds of colleges and universities are far more likely to nurture the sexual development every human being needs to become a thriving person.