About Wednesday's comic, "Why Ivy League Grads Aren't All Pretentious Douchebags":
Thanks for all the unexpected attention! I appreciated reading all the comments and definitely learned a lot from them. Had I know there would be so many eyes on this comic, I probably would have double-checked everything more carefully...
Some frequently asked questions/arguments:
"So you're saying that Ivy League schools are sooo special because students learn humility and meet new people there? Isn't that a little elitist?"
In my cartoon, I specifically spoke about "elite schools" because they were the original topic of Deresiewicz's op-ed, but I didn't mean to imply that these experiences are unique to Ivy League schools. I just wanted to make an anecdotal case that being at a school like Princeton isn't as ego-stroking an experience as outsiders might imagine. If I had chosen another school, I would probably have had an equally fulfilling experience, with different advantages and disadvantages--but I can only guess about those.
"Why didn't you address Deresiewicz's point about _____________?"
Actually, I agree with Deresiewicz on a quite a few of his arguments. It's undeniable that there are disadvantages to an Ivy League (or any other) education. For instance, Deresiewicz is right that an elite education may actually narrow students' opportunities by funneling them toward certain (lucrative) career paths. I chose to ignore reiterating those points that I agreed with, instead focusing on the areas where I disagreed.
"Deresiewicz didn't mean that elite schools would make students egotistical as individuals--but it does give them a sense that they, as a group, are a superior class."
Fair point. This is a subtlety between group and individual effects that I didn't give much thought to. However, his op-ed does--both explicitly and implicitly--ascribe certain characteristics to the individuals produced by the elite educational system, and I think they're unfair.
"Your anecdote is only one example. It's not enough to prove anything."
Agreed! Anecdotal evidence is never rigorous evidence. However, until someone comes up with an appropriate metric for "size of ego," "volume of douchebaggery," or "depth of humility," anecdotal evidence will probably have to do. Informally, it does seem that my story rang true for a lot of other students at Princeton and similar schools.
"So you think there are no problems with social inequality today?"
On the contrary there are lots of problems. But let's place credit and blame where they're due. Some of the issues mentioned are better handled on the broader cultural level or the narrower individual level, in my opinion. "Narrow vision of success": cultural issue. "Can't chat with plumber": individual issue.
"Why did you draw this as a comic?"
Because this is a comics blog.
"You sound like a pretentious douchebag."
Well, anything I say here will just sound defensive, but I'm pretty sure I'm less abrasive in real life. At least in real life I don't talk about my educational history at such length. I did feel that it was necessary for the story here, though.
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