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Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:08.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Greetings everyone and welcome to the first session, our first live session of Introduction to Sociology.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.27,0:00:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The last few days have been simply extraordinary in terms of the response and the discussion
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.42,0:00:17.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the course website which I’ve been following.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.57,0:00:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although I have not been able to respond to each and every one of your postings,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.55,0:00:27.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want you to know that I’ve been looking carefully at the many things that you have written
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.64,0:00:33.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I am so impressed with the level and quality of the discussion and the ways
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.33,0:00:38.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which you are all helping one another along to develop a better understanding of the material.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.99,0:00:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is peer learning at its best and this a very impressive group of students from all over the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.48,0:00:51.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to begin today by thanking my own administration —
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.91,0:00:56.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the President and the Provost, and the Dean of the faculty and the Dean of the college,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.100,0:01:01.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Associate Dean, and the people at the McGraw Teaching Center,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.52,0:01:08.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the people working here in the broadcast center at Princeton University for making all of this possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.74,0:01:18.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s this university’s commitment to bringing courses like this to a wider public and being inclusive
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.45,0:01:20.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that has made this possible,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.82,0:01:26.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and their decision to devote the resources to this kind of enterprise
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.20,0:01:31.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,makes me feel wonderful as a member of the Princeton faculty
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.56,0:01:38.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I know that my colleagues on the Princeton faculty feel as though very similarly to me
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.43,0:01:43.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this is a very special moment in the history of higher education that we are a part of,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.44,0:01:46.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we have the privilege of being a part of.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.42,0:01:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, I want to say also that, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.28,0:01:54.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is really part of a pretty long-standing tradition here at Princeton:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.98,0:02:00.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In our university we have a very generous financial aid package to students
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.37,0:02:03.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who’ve come here from a very wide variety of backgrounds.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.45,0:02:09.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one of the things that I think didn’t come across in the article by Malcolm Gladwell
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.88,0:02:16.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the extent to which that is significant in the ongoing life of Princeton.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.81,0:02:26.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have certainly the best financial aid package in the world and it is something that we are very proud of.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.22,0:02:30.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Probably 60 percent of our students are on financial aid.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.41,0:02:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our students are not required to take out loans to come here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.10,0:02:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The financial aid is available to students not only from the United States but from all over the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.00,0:02:49.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it extends from $5,000 to $50,000 depending on the needs of an individual family in a given year
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.09,0:02:52.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I have received questions over e-mail from students around the world asking
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.85,0:02:57.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether or not it’s possible for people from outside the United States to apply for financially aid.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.99,0:03:00.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the answer is yes, there are no limitations on that,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.98,0:03:07.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and financial need is not taken into consideration when admissions decisions are made.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.59,0:03:11.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over ten percent of our student body comes from outside the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.50,0:03:15.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and many of those students are on financial aid.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.64,0:03:25.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to talk today about the Malcolm Gladwell article but first I want to begin by discussing in some detail
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.82,0:03:32.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the article that we read by C. Wright Mills which was written of course in 1959.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.26,0:03:36.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I want to begin by welcoming the students from around the world
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.50,0:03:39.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are part of our seminar for today.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.61,0:03:45.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I should say at the outset that we invited a couple of more people to join us today and for technical reasons,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.45,0:03:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of them are not up on the screen — they might pop up during the course of our conversation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.60,0:03:54.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But for the time being, we are going to speak with the people that are there.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.04,0:04:01.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’d like them to introduce themselves to us beginning with the person on the far left, Dipendra.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.25,0:04:03.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then let’s go through each person.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.25,0:04:07.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I’d like the each of you to say something about what you thought was most interesting,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.50,0:04:13.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something brief about what you thought was most interesting about Mills’s essay, “The Promise.”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.77,0:04:15.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dipendra.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.53,0:04:19.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Hi, this is Di [from] Nepal.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.23,0:04:27.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you are wondering where Nepal is, we are in [inaudible] India [inaudible]. We’re a very small country.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.68,0:04:35.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I come from [inaudible]. My bachelors in rural development and I have a major in sociology as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.06,0:04:41.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Particular interested in this, today’s text by C. Wright Mills.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.35,0:04:50.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’ve been very much fascinated for those examples of study relating to the institution of the society,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.38,0:04:56.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,specifically at his out during the lecture regarding divorce and marriage.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.64,0:05:00.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was one thing very much interesting to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.06,0:05:04.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another thing we tried, at the last time, the text which is
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.93,0:05:12.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that if you want to develop your socialism then you should plays very mean.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.38,0:05:17.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, that, about the thing that have been striking…
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.46,0:05:22.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay. Dipendra unfortunately the connection to you was not great
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.89,0:05:29.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I will summarize though that you thought that one of the most interesting things
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.21,0:05:35.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has to do with the connection of the sociological imagination to marriage and divorce.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.32,0:05:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, we will look forward to hearing more from you later, hopefully with a better connection.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.73,0:05:42.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Doug?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.57,0:05:46.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, hi, I’m Doug, I’m from Philadelphia.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.50,0:05:52.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don’t know. “The Promise,” — I believe is the name of the paper —
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.90,0:05:56.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my impression, it was really hard to understand — you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.40,0:06:01.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to put myself back in 1959 and trying to understand where it was coming from.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.85,0:06:08.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It seemed almost like he was just trying to focus on the psychology, I guess, of being trapped.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.93,0:06:15.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I also want… I did understand the basic thing of where I was going with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.04,0:06:19.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Doug, could you tell us a little bit about yourself in Philadelphia.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.07,0:06:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, I’m a firefighter in Philadelphia.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.84,0:06:27.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,34 years old which I think makes me the oldest member of the panel.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.63,0:06:32.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, I took a little bit of college.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.12,0:06:35.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After high school I was in the Navy most of the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.91,0:06:38.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And now I’m trying to get back in college.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.30,0:06:41.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> And are you, are you talking to us from the firehouse right now?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.58,0:06:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> No. No, (>> [laugh]) I can’t.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.80,0:06:46.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can’t do that. [laugh] (>> [laugh])
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.77,0:06:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything that I say is — what — my opinion; it has nothing to do with the Fire Department.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.78,0:06:54.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But no, I’m at my house and yeah, I’m excited to be here.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.93,0:06:58.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay. Thank you, Doug.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.16,0:07:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> My name is Estela Diaz.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.40,0:07:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m a Princeton University student majoring in Sociology.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.22,0:07:12.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m originally from Los Angeles, California and currently living in Spanish Harlem in New York City.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.40,0:07:19.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the things I thought was most interesting is considering the sociological imagination
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.33,0:07:27.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in context of the United States 2012 political campaign and the presidential election.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.61,0:07:32.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m just kind of considering how issues are framed —
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.17,0:07:41.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether they are framed as personal issues or public issues, especially the economic downturn.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.77,0:07:45.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Fascinating. Is it Nana who’s next?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.38,0:07:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I’m Nana. I’m from Georgia.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.28,0:07:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s Caucasus not Georgia in USA.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.18,0:07:54.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> [laugh].
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.09,0:08:03.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I am working as a representative of Israeli delegation here in Georgia and Ukraine and in Belarus.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.99,0:08:11.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also I have a travel company with my friend; we’re dealing only with incoming tourists,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.23,0:08:22.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for me the most… I pay attention on the sociological imagination in the chapter one:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.66,0:08:29.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was quite interesting for me how people can imagine the things in the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.73,0:08:37.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and also marriage and divorce, because in Georgia it’s quite complicated.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.83,0:08:40.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Thank you, Nana.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.23,0:08:42.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then finally.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.62,0:08:48.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Hello, my name is Pavel [inaudible] University School of [inaudible]
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.18,0:08:54.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and National Relations which is the case in Southwestern Russia.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.04,0:09:00.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I found this article very interesting because it’s referring to the effect
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.90,0:09:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that our lives are just a moment in terms of historical change and even the…
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.97,0:09:18.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we have to think more, to think wider in this case.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.79,0:09:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> That’s very interesting.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.34,0:09:26.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, well, these are some very interesting ways of beginning our thinking
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.32,0:09:30.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what Mills was trying to say and what I’d like to do now with you guys is
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.78,0:09:34.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to try to go through the essay in a little bit of detail —
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.82,0:09:40.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from Kathmandu, to Siberia, to Georgia, to Spanish Harlem, to Philadelphia —
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.96,0:09:46.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and talk about the meaning of some of these lines and how we should interpret them.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.61,0:09:52.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to begin with the first paragraph, the second line where Mills says,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.53,0:09:56.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“they sensed that within their everyday world, they cannot overcome their troubles
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.84,0:10:02.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this feel, and this feeling they are quite often correct.”
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.18,0:10:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One question that I want to ask you is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.88,0:10:13.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is there some sense in which that line, and the essay as a whole, gives an impression to people
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.21,0:10:22.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that if only they can develop a sociological imagination, that they can overcome their troubles?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.69,0:10:26.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And is that really realistic?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.13,0:10:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What are some of the dilemmas involved in thinking about this in such a way?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.05,0:10:38.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah. I believe that was something that
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.84,0:10:41.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had something to do a little bit more with this psychology of it, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.91,0:10:47.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somebody kinda trapped in their own sometimes made-up shell.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.11,0:10:51.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s because they feel — I mean it’s almost like looking at this minute, you know, I was never able…
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.68,0:10:57.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wasn’t much of a person that was very smart coming out of high school, I guess,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.15,0:11:01.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I didn’t take the college route.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.03,0:11:06.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as I got older, I wanted to go to college but now this is a forwarding opportunity.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:06.80,0:11:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel like I’m widening now a little bit like from personal experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.66,0:11:12.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that’s kinda like the way I look at it — like
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.50,0:11:18.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of me [standing there] in my own shell, now I feel like I’m just through this course.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.36,0:11:21.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m feeling like I’m kind of getting over it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.70,0:11:26.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> And, is there a sense though — I’m curious to know — in which…
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.77,0:11:31.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does having a sociological imagination give us any legitimate reason to believe
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.70,0:11:36.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we are in a better position to overcome our personal troubles?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.86,0:11:45.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or is that an unrealistic kind of thing to begin the essay with?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.93,0:11:54.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I didn’t personally interpret it as such. Instead I interpreted this repeated notion
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.39,0:12:00.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of not being able to overcome one’s personal troubles —
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.27,0:12:08.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I interpreted that as Mills arguing for a larger perspective, not necessarily saying
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.78,0:12:15.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that having a sociological imagination will allow you to overcome troubles
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.31,0:12:25.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but instead emphasizing that our troubles are not strictly derived from the individual.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:25.22,0:12:33.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So Mills is arguing that having that sociological imagination will give you a different perspective on your troubles
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.44,0:12:37.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it will not necessarily solve your troubles.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.88,0:12:42.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Very interesting. Would anyone else like to comment on this?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.74,0:12:51.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I think almost the same because I, I think it’s not depend to overcome the troubles,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.50,0:12:56.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s not coming from the sociological imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.57,0:13:07.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can you can solve your troubles and solve your problems without knowing it but it helps you quite a lot.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.05,0:13:09.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> But are you sure about that, Nana?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.79,0:13:17.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are you really sure that having a sociological imagination would help you in solving the personal troubles?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.03,0:13:20.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Eh. Like in Georgia [inaudible].
Dialogue: 0,0:13:20.06,0:13:23.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Oh, really? Could you say more about that?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.94,0:13:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Let’s say, in Georgia if you’re…
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.35,0:13:40.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, for people who are coming from abroad, it’s not easy to find some jobs.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.60,0:13:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you are not an investor it’s not easy to find it.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:44.20,0:13:50.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you know the sociological imagination, like to help
Dialogue: 0,0:13:50.79,0:13:56.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how people think about it, you will not come in Georgia and start your work here.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.92,0:14:00.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You will go to another country to find some job.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.75,0:14:03.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let’s say, let’s say this example.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:03.85,0:14:06.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> So, in other words, having the socio… that’s a really good answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:06.31,0:14:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having the sociological imagination is going to perhaps one way of having a sociological imagination
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.72,0:14:17.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to know our probabilities, and understanding the probabilities means
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.76,0:14:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we can assess our chances and decide what we should try and what we shouldn’t try, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:23.38,0:14:25.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.53,0:14:27.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay. But let me ask you a question, Estela.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.78,0:14:32.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You’re a Princeton student, okay?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.10,0:14:35.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> If you knew (>> Mhm.) the probabilities when you applied to Princeton of being accepted,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:35.75,0:14:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would you have ever tried?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:39.77,0:14:47.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I mean, I think I kind of did know the probabilities was less than ten percent acceptance rate.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.74,0:14:55.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And over, I think it’s, it was about 30,000 people who applied my year,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:55.70,0:15:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with only… with less than 2,000 of us being accepted, the probability was extremely low.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:04.46,0:15:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you have to, in the case of applying to Princeton University,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.54,0:15:19.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think there was something worth a lot more than… I think it was worth taking my chances.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.05,0:15:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> But the thing is just: did having a sociological imagination and knowing the odds,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:24.42,0:15:27.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did that increase the chances of you applying? Or don’t you think
Dialogue: 0,0:15:27.99,0:15:33.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there are some people who are having that knowledge might have said, “It’s not worth it to try at all”?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:33.83,0:15:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, if somebody finds out that the chances of doing,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:38.48,0:15:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of succeeding in any field are small, does that knowledge necessarily help them in the end?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:44.17,0:15:49.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’re assuming that it’s empowering to have that knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:49.05,0:15:53.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I wonder if it could also be disempowering.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:53.94,0:15:56.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do you… (>> I think it could…) Go ahead.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:56.37,0:16:04.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> it could certainly be discouraging, especially if you consider Mills’ article in general,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:04.39,0:16:12.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he’s kind of taking away from the notion of individual agency and individual power.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:12.11,0:16:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when you take that away, it does and can seem very discouraging.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.55,0:16:25.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Doug, what do you think about this?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:25.62,0:16:30.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, basically I think that Estela hit the nail right on the head.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:30.08,0:16:34.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That — you know — that sense of, you know, when like things are hopeless,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.68,0:16:38.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people are going to say, “Why am I going to put the effort in?”
Dialogue: 0,0:16:38.06,0:16:44.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, if you realize, like Estela did, that you know, that doesn’t just define who you are,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:44.61,0:16:48.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, you know, that 10%, if you’re going to part of that 10%,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:48.66,0:16:51.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you’re part of that ten percent like what are you going to do about it?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:51.01,0:16:55.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is what it is, and that really, I think that could really be freeing for somebody
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.88,0:17:00.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because that’s not going to really upset them if they turn around and get rejected.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:00.09,0:17:04.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They’ll say, okay, whatever, you know, although I was ready for that.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:04.07,0:17:08.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s kinda like a you know, “expect the”… “expect the worst,”
Dialogue: 0,0:17:08.72,0:17:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or “hope for the best and expect the worst” kind of thing, I guess.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:12.00,0:17:14.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I don’t know if I am missing that point.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.27,0:17:19.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Let’s move on to the next part of the paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:19.19,0:17:25.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the very beginning of the second paragraph, Mills says, “Underlying this sense of being trapped
Dialogue: 0,0:17:25.58,0:17:31.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are seemingly impersonal changes in the very structure of continent-wide societies.”
Dialogue: 0,0:17:31.77,0:17:36.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were some discussion on the discussion boards
Dialogue: 0,0:17:36.71,0:17:41.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the last few days about what Mills meant by impersonal changes.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:41.12,0:17:44.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I thought that you guys did a very good job
Dialogue: 0,0:17:44.99,0:17:49.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of clarifying the issue for those who were confused, but what does this mean to you?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:49.44,0:17:52.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What are some of the kinds of impersonal changes
Dialogue: 0,0:17:52.32,0:18:00.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that affect you in the society in which you live as a way of conceiving of what Mills is talking about?
Dialogue: 0,0:18:00.42,0:18:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dipendra, could you start?
Dialogue: 0,0:18:02.38,0:18:09.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I was very much interested in the previous paragraph
Dialogue: 0,0:18:09.16,0:18:12.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I was about to speak but I lost my connection.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:12.36,0:18:17.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, maybe I would rather go back to that paragraph and I’ll jump to this paragraph at the end.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:17.68,0:18:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Sure, why don’t you do that. (>> So, in the previous thing.) Go ahead, please do.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:22.60,0:18:27.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> So, I have a different I have a, I have a different perspective on
Dialogue: 0,0:18:27.77,0:18:36.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it does say, it is said that within the everyday works they cannot overcome the troubles.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:36.44,0:18:39.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to keep myself in this example.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:39.70,0:18:42.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have my parents divorced.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:42.38,0:18:51.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So in this actually when my parents, then was suddenly, the problem that I’m facing in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:51.25,0:18:55.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I, believe is facing this kind of problem and I was so… I have a small sister
Dialogue: 0,0:18:55.94,0:19:01.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I have my mom crying in front of me every day and my dad was with another woman.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:01.66,0:19:09.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, how I felt, it was like I felt that this was only me. This is only “I’m the guy” problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:09.05,0:19:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But sociological imagination, I think that in a broader perspective,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:14.84,0:19:25.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I look at my society then I see a lot of people who get who get divorced so then, then I do is,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:25.25,0:19:33.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I simply hiding myself and say that, okay boy, this is, this is not only the way you move ahead.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:33.27,0:19:39.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s not, spend your whole life regretting because your dad married to another woman or something.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:39.01,0:19:46.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, when I look at only… when I think that is my problem only, I feel I’m trapped in that problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:46.56,0:19:53.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when I come out of my family, when I come out, when I look at my society then I feel a lot,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:53.45,0:19:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is the broader perspective that I should look into and that really motivated me.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:59.46,0:20:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, I think that, that is a really wonderful statement because what you’re saying
Dialogue: 0,0:20:04.18,0:20:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that you feel as though the understanding that your experience was not a personal problem
Dialogue: 0,0:20:11.54,0:20:18.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but was part of a larger trend and a larger public issue inspired you to feel empowered.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:18.55,0:20:22.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that you decided that you are going to rise above your social circumstances
Dialogue: 0,0:20:22.77,0:20:26.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with that knowledge knowing that was not your fault
Dialogue: 0,0:20:26.06,0:20:30.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or knowing that this was not the fault of your family —
Dialogue: 0,0:20:30.49,0:20:36.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I actually, I think that’s a really excellent response to my concern
Dialogue: 0,0:20:36.29,0:20:40.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it’s really a nice response because I think that in the case of divorce,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:40.72,0:20:46.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s true that many children feel as though they are themselves the cause of their parents’ divorce
Dialogue: 0,0:20:46.28,0:20:50.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they feel as though they are responsible for it and certainly it’s true
Dialogue: 0,0:20:50.22,0:20:56.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that their family members blame themselves, and I think it is the case that
Dialogue: 0,0:20:56.09,0:21:02.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you know that you’re part of something larger and wider, perhaps that is actually empowering
Dialogue: 0,0:21:02.05,0:21:06.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be able to get beyond it and move beyond it.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:06.02,0:21:13.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet I must tell you that I feel still nevertheless a certain concern over these lines
Dialogue: 0,0:21:13.46,0:21:20.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what they imply in the essay because for many people, you know, their lives are just really hard.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:20.74,0:21:28.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, it is going to be hard for them whether they know that they’re part of a larger social trend or not.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:28.20,0:21:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the ability to rise beyond their social circumstances,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:33.50,0:21:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I worry, takes a lot more obviously than any kind of knowledge or understanding of this kind,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:40.16,0:21:53.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but perhaps that’s just obvious and not worth being overly concerned with.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:53.57,0:22:01.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the way, in our Princeton Seminars, there are moments, as Estela will tell you, of complete silence.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:01.05,0:22:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I encourage those moments in my seminar. I believe in silence.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:04.46,0:22:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it’s great for people to be able to sit and think for a second.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:07.80,0:22:13.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes we’ll have silence for 30 seconds in the room before somebody talks.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:13.39,0:22:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We shouldn’t always feel pressured to fill in every gap at every moment,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:18.50,0:22:25.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and no more so just because we happen to be on the Internet for 30,000 other students right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:25.33,0:22:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does anybody else have anything they wanted to add to that before we move on there, then?
Dialogue: 0,0:22:30.72,0:22:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yes. May I add something? It will be kind of question.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:34.97,0:22:40.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you were talking in your lecture about sociological imagination,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:40.59,0:22:46.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what we find was mortgage and divorce — situations and issues.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:46.01,0:22:55.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember the words of Soviet secretary-general Joseph Stalin ’cause he once said to Averill Harriman.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:55.53,0:23:01.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of million is statistic.”
Dialogue: 0,0:23:01.85,0:23:08.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’d like to know that I am not a fan of Joseph Stalin, and my opinion, he was a dictator.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:08.60,0:23:12.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was just the first thing that came to my mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:12.34,0:23:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether there is an argument, whether he said it or not.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:17.47,0:23:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I wanted to ask a bit political question.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:24.42,0:23:32.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I understand that in terms of historical change, as also Mills noted,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:32.08,0:23:42.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our lives are only a moment so today anything around us could be revealed as a statistic —
Dialogue: 0,0:23:42.15,0:23:48.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even our lives can be a statistic within this scope
Dialogue: 0,0:23:48.34,0:23:56.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the population size, and then the scope of many other issues.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:56.17,0:24:01.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So our president tells about wages.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:01.25,0:24:07.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he tells about wages, he cites average wages data.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:07.18,0:24:13.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why doesn’t he cite the lowest [inaudible], for example Tatiana
Dialogue: 0,0:24:13.21,0:24:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who is which a school teacher in Siberia in who has four children and tries to survive with four kids.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:25.37,0:24:31.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How do you think, professor? Can the government treat its people just as a statistic?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:31.78,0:24:38.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And where is the border of statistic and the real life?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:38.95,0:24:43.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, I think that it’s very tempting to use a single statistic,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:43.06,0:24:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and of course what a sociological imagination is going to do,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:48.70,0:24:52.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is going to try to encourage people to look at the variation,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:52.98,0:24:57.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to try to explain the variation in a society.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:57.71,0:25:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, I think that there’s always a tendency to try to put the focus in one place or the other
Dialogue: 0,0:25:04.40,0:25:10.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but your job is as a sociologist is to move toward an understanding and grasping
Dialogue: 0,0:25:10.41,0:25:14.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of that variation in which you just did in your wonderful comment
Dialogue: 0,0:25:14.90,0:25:22.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that’s a great quote which I’m sure that I’ll be using in the future when I give this lecture again.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:22.44,0:25:27.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to ask you guys to take a peek though at the notion of
Dialogue: 0,0:25:27.30,0:25:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that first line in the essay, and I want to get back to this issue of impersonal changes.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:34.43,0:25:40.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Could you guys try to think about what that means,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:40.53,0:25:47.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and try to help the students who were concerned about that all on the website to reflect on that a little bit more?
Dialogue: 0,0:25:47.38,0:25:51.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What are some of the impersonal changes in your society?
Dialogue: 0,0:25:51.88,0:25:55.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nana has gone off, why don’t we go to Doug?
Dialogue: 0,0:25:55.18,0:25:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> When I look at this line, as far as impersonal changes,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:59.49,0:26:02.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt like that was something that, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:02.43,0:26:07.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a time, I mean, it was brought up before about what’s going on with the housing crisis,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:07.69,0:26:10.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the job crisis and everything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:10.06,0:26:14.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in a time when jobs are, you know, so few and far between,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:14.38,0:26:19.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somebody can very easily think of themselves “Well there’s something wrong with me that’s why I’m not working,”
Dialogue: 0,0:26:19.37,0:26:24.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when, if they look at the, you know, the way that everything is in society,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:24.02,0:26:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s not a personal change that you need to make,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:26.98,0:26:29.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s the way that the society is that, you know, the…
Dialogue: 0,0:26:29.89,0:26:34.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the structure and, as it goes, the very structure of the continent-wide society
Dialogue: 0,0:26:34.98,0:26:39.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that if there’s, there’s change made to the system,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:39.11,0:26:42.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not something that has to do with this one person —
Dialogue: 0,0:26:42.25,0:26:46.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like I feel like that line is trying to give somebody a little bit of hope you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:46.07,0:26:49.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like “Look, it’s not you! You have the ability, you just need to understand
Dialogue: 0,0:26:49.10,0:26:52.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there’s a problem out there right now.” I think we’re just going
Dialogue: 0,0:26:52.12,0:26:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to need to try a little bit harder and don’t let yourself down and don’t feel like you’re trapped.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:57.05,0:26:59.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay. Estela?
Dialogue: 0,0:26:59.54,0:27:06.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> No, I think he saw that very well.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:06.25,0:27:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m trying to think.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:07.96,0:27:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m looking at what he says the structure of continent-wide societies and just contextualizing this
Dialogue: 0,0:27:16.37,0:27:24.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in nineteen…, I mean, if we consider the effect of the Internet now in our very discussion here today,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:24.41,0:27:31.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where we were discussing this with people on various continents, various countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:31.23,0:27:44.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So looking at impersonal changes, that’s something far beyond our what he says as personal troubles,…
Dialogue: 0,0:27:44.26,0:27:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah. I think that one of the things that concerns me about this point as well is that, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:51.20,0:27:58.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the emphasis on, obviously, the impersonal changes and that as if they are always trapping us.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:58.19,0:28:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think that we have to have more a nuanced view of it — at least I would propose that —
Dialogue: 0,0:28:03.83,0:28:09.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the, you know, the impersonal change of today of the Internet
Dialogue: 0,0:28:09.68,0:28:15.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obviously is also leading to possibilities like the one that we have before us right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:15.71,0:28:18.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, I think that our job as sociologists
Dialogue: 0,0:28:18.55,0:28:23.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to look at the ways in which impersonal changes not only trap us,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:23.34,0:28:28.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also liberate us and potentially make us more free.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:28.24,0:28:33.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I wonder whether or not anybody could present an example other than the Internet
Dialogue: 0,0:28:33.82,0:28:37.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of any kind of impersonal change in their own society.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:37.31,0:28:41.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or perhaps the internet is the best one for your society right now that you’d like to refer to,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:41.93,0:29:13.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in which the actual impersonal change has been liberating rather than simply constraining.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:13.03,0:29:17.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Remember silence is fine. Silence is good in the seminar.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:17.56,0:29:22.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone can think.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:22.87,0:29:31.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> I think that was a good example, try to recover other issues.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:31.89,0:29:37.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay. Well maybe we can ask our online viewers,
Dialogue: 0,0:29:37.14,0:29:42.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the other members of the class, to think about that issue a little bit as we move forward in the class.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:42.84,0:29:48.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to move on now to a discussion of the New Yorker article
Dialogue: 0,0:29:48.94,0:29:55.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was written by the great writer, the great non-fiction writer, Malcolm Gladwell.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:55.40,0:30:00.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I saw some questions on the discussion boards
Dialogue: 0,0:30:00.07,0:30:05.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about why I would have assigned this article for the first class.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:05.54,0:30:10.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact, the article was assigned
Dialogue: 0,0:30:10.76,0:30:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for exactly the reason that many of you proposed in your answers to the person who asked that question:
Dialogue: 0,0:30:15.76,0:30:20.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I believe it exemplifies the sociological imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:20.74,0:30:24.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you guys hear me right now?
Dialogue: 0,0:30:24.03,0:30:26.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes? Okay, good.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:26.90,0:30:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, let’s begin now by talking a little bit about Gladwell’s article.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:32.54,0:30:35.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gladwell being a Canadian who came to the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:30:35.69,0:30:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was kind of intrigued by the culture of New York City
Dialogue: 0,0:30:39.65,0:30:44.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which he found that there were many people who were obsessed with Harvard in particular,
Dialogue: 0,0:30:44.43,0:30:49.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who seemed to think that if they had gone there
Dialogue: 0,0:30:49.46,0:30:56.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there was nothing of greater importance that could have happened to them in their lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:56.08,0:31:00.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he wrote this essay based on, as we know,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:00.07,0:31:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on the research of sociologist Jerome Karabel largely,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:04.46,0:31:15.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the nature of admissions at Harvard, Princeton and Yale,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:15.40,0:31:19.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the way in which it moved in the direction that it is in today.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:19.33,0:31:26.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, one of the things that I found very interesting about the responses on the Internet to this
Dialogue: 0,0:31:26.10,0:31:31.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that, there were many people who saw the decision
Dialogue: 0,0:31:31.78,0:31:37.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Ivy League Schools to look at the “whole person” rather than a single dimension
Dialogue: 0,0:31:37.75,0:31:43.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as meaning — as implying — that, that was somehow a false promise,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:43.34,0:31:47.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or that people have been excluded
Dialogue: 0,0:31:47.66,0:31:53.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that people, that they themselves were being promised something that wasn’t really fair or obtainable
Dialogue: 0,0:31:53.98,0:32:01.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when they were given the hope that they one day could achieve or go to an Ivy League School.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:01.36,0:32:07.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I’m just curious about that response because my own feeling about it in looking at the way
Dialogue: 0,0:32:07.22,0:32:10.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the system of college admissions emerged is that,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:10.63,0:32:15.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while I think it’s good that the largest group of students in the university
Dialogue: 0,0:32:15.23,0:32:18.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has gotten there because of their academic achievement,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:18.36,0:32:23.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that it is also true that there are so many other qualities in life
Dialogue: 0,0:32:23.42,0:32:27.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that make for a deserving and an interesting human being.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:27.20,0:32:33.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, would we really want a college to only include the people who have the highest scores
Dialogue: 0,0:32:33.61,0:32:37.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than a system like the one that has been designed
Dialogue: 0,0:32:37.96,0:32:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which actually looks at a much wider variety of personal characteristics?
Dialogue: 0,0:32:42.96,0:32:47.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I’m just curious about what your response was to some of those comments
Dialogue: 0,0:32:47.42,0:32:53.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how you would design a system like this if it was up to you.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:53.65,0:32:55.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dipendra.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:55.47,0:32:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Actually when I was going through this text,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:59.32,0:33:03.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I’ve felt was the education system the admission system
Dialogue: 0,0:33:03.07,0:33:09.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was there and unfortunately, in Nepal, I’ve been practicing that now.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:09.47,0:33:13.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, we have the, actually a brief background of
Dialogue: 0,0:33:13.64,0:33:19.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the admission system that we have here and then I’ll get back to my point.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:19.48,0:33:26.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, here at Nepal, what [we have] there are typically two different kinds of colleges or universities.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:26.17,0:33:32.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The primary targets of all the university and all the college here in Nepal is you should get at least good marks —
Dialogue: 0,0:33:32.94,0:33:37.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least, [inaudible] more than 60 percent or more than three GPA —
Dialogue: 0,0:33:37.96,0:33:41.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that you can get into good college or something like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:41.11,0:33:47.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And very few, very few colleges and universities — we count in hands or fingers —
Dialogue: 0,0:33:47.12,0:33:53.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they’ll look overall student or they look at overall characteristics of students.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:53.74,0:33:59.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it would depend, but I would like to say seeing, to look at examples
Dialogue: 0,0:33:59.14,0:34:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I have seen here in Nepal, what I have come to conclude is typically,
Dialogue: 0,0:34:05.04,0:34:09.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are two different university here that I would like to mention in Nepal.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:09.99,0:34:15.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Tribhuvan University which is government owned university and Kathmandu University
Dialogue: 0,0:34:15.22,0:34:17.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is privately owned university.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:17.55,0:34:20.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, why does Tribhuvan University does it?
Dialogue: 0,0:34:20.17,0:34:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They don’t have a proper definite system of taking in students.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:24.66,0:34:28.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, every time they can have a ticket of admission in that college.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:28.74,0:34:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They have let’s say you have crossed 50 percent then you’ll get into that university — and where I am now.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:35.37,0:34:41.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And before coming to this university, I actually dropped the Kathmandu University
Dialogue: 0,0:34:41.46,0:34:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because private university and which required rigorous competition.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:46.44,0:34:50.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They had added a baseline for academics.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:50.96,0:34:55.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need to get at least 60 percent in your high school, then
Dialogue: 0,0:34:55.47,0:34:59.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you should be astounding in extra curricular activities,
Dialogue: 0,0:34:59.58,0:35:04.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you should be astounding in sports, you should be social, and so many characteristics.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:04.74,0:35:11.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And where the products that come out after from the universities after four years,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:11.86,0:35:15.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can see a clear distinction here in Nepal:
Dialogue: 0,0:35:15.24,0:35:22.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kathmandu University, which has a system of looking a student from all dimension,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:22.81,0:35:29.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the students are… they are very practical, they know a lot of things, you know, they are outgoing.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:29.53,0:35:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And while we look at the students of Tribhuvan University,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:33.48,0:35:38.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I see is students are very much confined to books —
Dialogue: 0,0:35:38.77,0:35:45.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not even in textbooks: we have these papers here that means the questions that, the exams.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:45.81,0:35:53.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there are some predicted questions and you go through that question and you will get questions out of that.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:53.36,0:36:02.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is sometimes… that’s really a very difficult task at Tribhuvan University.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:02.51,0:36:10.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, what I feel is, for a college student to get admission, academics should be one of the primary criteria,
Dialogue: 0,0:36:10.59,0:36:14.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we should have also look at the students in overall —
Dialogue: 0,0:36:14.21,0:36:18.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how good they [inaudible] in society, how good they [inaudible] in sports.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:18.32,0:36:19.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s what I [think].\N>> Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:19.85,0:36:23.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you for that interesting comment, Dipendra.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:23.02,0:36:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would anyone else like to comment on this?
Dialogue: 0,0:36:25.05,0:36:27.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yes, may I comment?\N>> Yes.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:27.21,0:36:30.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Because getting in is a very pressing problem for me.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:30.42,0:36:39.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I’m graduating in a few days, and then I’ll be… I have to find an advocate’s masters program.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:39.11,0:36:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And while I was reading “Getting In” article, I have a feeling you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:36:46.48,0:36:56.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, the situation that existed in the beginning of the twentieth Century in Harvard University and Yale etc.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:56.59,0:37:02.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With standardized tests now exists in Russia,
Dialogue: 0,0:37:02.17,0:37:07.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the twenty-first century, in the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:07.38,0:37:18.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I think it’s not a good way to admit students just on the basis of standardized tests.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:18.79,0:37:28.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Academic records is a very is a very… is an important problem
Dialogue: 0,0:37:28.39,0:37:35.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but while admitting they should see…
Dialogue: 0,0:37:35.32,0:37:45.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they should see the person[’s] hope — hope as in hope —, his background, his experience,
Dialogue: 0,0:37:45.82,0:37:56.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what he can do, maybe… just not only his studies.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:56.35,0:38:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> So, it’s interesting to hear your perspectives on this, and it is true that outside the United States,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:01.68,0:38:06.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the standards are usually much more narrow for admissions decisions.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:06.65,0:38:12.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think that, that is what accounted for some of the surprise
Dialogue: 0,0:38:12.51,0:38:18.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that initially came on to the site about the way that it’s done here in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:18.58,0:38:22.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to, oh, I see we have another person that just joined us.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:22.74,0:38:25.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another Princeton student named Dixon Lee.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:25.76,0:38:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, Dixon.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:27.14,0:38:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Hi, Mitch.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:28.29,0:38:32.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> So, we’re talking right now about the Malcolm Gladwell essay
Dialogue: 0,0:38:32.82,0:38:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and one of the interesting points that I want to sort of end by thinking about,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:39.12,0:38:43.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is something that came up a lot on the discussion boards
Dialogue: 0,0:38:43.08,0:38:47.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was the study that was cited — and this is for everybody, not just for Dixon —
Dialogue: 0,0:38:47.52,0:38:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the study that was cited by Gladwell, by my colleague Alan Krueger, who did a study of the people
Dialogue: 0,0:38:56.70,0:39:01.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were — let’s say “hypothetically,” as it’s described in the article —
Dialogue: 0,0:39:01.35,0:39:09.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accepted into a state university like Penn State, at a private university like the University of Pennsylvania.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:09.39,0:39:14.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what was his point in making that comparison and what did he find?
Dialogue: 0,0:39:14.89,0:39:17.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does anybody remember?
Dialogue: 0,0:39:17.38,0:39:22.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It certainly elicited a lot of response on the discussion boards.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:22.53,0:39:28.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Um. So they referred to it as comparing apples to apples.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:28.10,0:39:37.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what they discovered is that both the person who decides to go to the more elite university —
Dialogue: 0,0:39:37.62,0:39:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“elites” — and the person who decides to go to the state school, both do well in the future.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:45.52,0:39:53.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With the finding of one exception, which is those from the lowest economic strata.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:53.69,0:40:01.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those from this strata were seen as benefiting from the elite’s education.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:01.01,0:40:07.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it didn’t say… it didn’t explain this in any way but that was the finding.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:07.89,0:40:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Can anybody explain — thank you Estela — Can anybody explain to us what was the logic of the article?
Dialogue: 0,0:40:13.63,0:40:18.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He used the words “selection” and “treatment”, and what was the exact way
Dialogue: 0,0:40:18.95,0:40:28.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which he went about in doing his study, in which those words became so important?
Dialogue: 0,0:40:28.24,0:40:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was he measuring? What was he comparing?
Dialogue: 0,0:40:30.90,0:40:36.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does anybody have any memory of that aspect of the article?
Dialogue: 0,0:40:36.21,0:40:42.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was Krueger doing there?
Dialogue: 0,0:40:42.58,0:40:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the traditional — it’s just to jog your memory —
Dialogue: 0,0:40:46.17,0:40:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the traditional measures of the impact of an Ivy League education,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:51.78,0:40:56.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comparisons have been made between the salaries of people
Dialogue: 0,0:40:56.18,0:41:01.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who graduated from Ivy League Schools and the salaries of people
Dialogue: 0,0:41:01.27,0:41:08.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who graduated from other schools, and what Kruger said was, “Let’s change the comparison.”
Dialogue: 0,0:41:08.34,0:41:16.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead of comparing it in that way, how did we do it?
Dialogue: 0,0:41:16.24,0:41:22.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He compared the people who were the same person.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:22.29,0:41:25.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He only took people who were graduated, who were admitted
Dialogue: 0,0:41:25.68,0:41:28.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both to private schools — to Ivy League Schools — and to other schools
Dialogue: 0,0:41:28.86,0:41:32.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who chose, for some reason, to go to the other school instead.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:32.05,0:41:38.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he compared those same people against the average people who came out of Ivy League Schools
Dialogue: 0,0:41:38.54,0:41:44.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he found out that those people actually did just as well as the people who went to Ivy League Schools.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:44.77,0:41:49.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so his point was, that it was not necessarily the treatment
Dialogue: 0,0:41:49.03,0:41:53.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of going to an Ivy League School that mattered — in terms of the success of people —
Dialogue: 0,0:41:53.90,0:42:01.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it was instead the selection into the system from the very beginning
Dialogue: 0,0:42:01.62,0:42:05.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of certain kinds of people that were destined to be successful.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:05.93,0:42:10.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he basically, despite the fact that he’s a Princeton professor
Dialogue: 0,0:42:10.65,0:42:14.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and has every reason to be biased in favor of the Ivy League,
Dialogue: 0,0:42:14.56,0:42:20.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he concluded that the impact of the Ivy League is not nearly as great
Dialogue: 0,0:42:20.17,0:42:24.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it’s taken to be by the wider society and the wider world.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:24.41,0:42:28.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now it seems to me that that kind of analysis that Krueger did,
Dialogue: 0,0:42:28.42,0:42:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is in the best tradition of the sociological imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:32.28,0:42:37.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it seems to me that, that kind of information should be empowering to many people,
Dialogue: 0,0:42:37.80,0:42:46.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regardless of whether or not they would even want to come to Princeton or some other Ivy League School.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:46.10,0:42:50.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did you guys… did that information make a similar impression on you guys?
Dialogue: 0,0:42:50.72,0:42:58.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What effect did it have on you to read that part of the article?
Dialogue: 0,0:42:58.24,0:43:02.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, I understood. Yeah, I understand what you’re saying.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:02.60,0:43:08.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The one quote that he has here is “having Penn on your resume opens doors.”
Dialogue: 0,0:43:08.97,0:43:15.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I do notice that there is that sort of the meanest attitude when it comes to society in general.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:15.69,0:43:20.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People turn and maybe look at certain people a certain kind of way — they put them up on a pedestal —
Dialogue: 0,0:43:20.26,0:43:24.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you know, it can sometimes be a little unfortunate that they would do something like that
Dialogue: 0,0:43:24.56,0:43:28.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you know, I understand; and
Dialogue: 0,0:43:28.37,0:43:34.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there’s such an emphasis that’s been put on for so long about who’s coming out of where —
Dialogue: 0,0:43:34.73,0:43:38.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just, you know, how, also like what he said earlier in the article,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:38.24,0:43:41.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, when he… when somebody said they were from Harvard it was like everybody
Dialogue: 0,0:43:41.76,0:43:44.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the room got quiet you know and they were like, “Oh, this guy is from Harvard!”
Dialogue: 0,0:43:44.95,0:43:49.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just like I understand that’s what he was explaining.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:49.97,0:43:55.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it kind of seems to me like — I’m not sure if I got [it] right,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:55.78,0:43:59.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what he was saying was that some of the [students]
Dialogue: 0,0:43:59.95,0:44:06.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, did really well in the lower-tiered school — like the state school — that they only did
Dialogue: 0,0:44:06.48,0:44:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as good as the people who were like average students in the Ivy League School.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:10.78,0:44:13.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> No, no, no, no, no, no. It was exactly the opposite of that.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:13.91,0:44:18.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is basically saying that if you took the same person who is admitted to both,
Dialogue: 0,0:44:18.85,0:44:24.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then it’s really ultimately the individual who mattered more than (>> Okay.) the social context.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:24.92,0:44:29.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay, so, yes. I, I just, I understood that what he was talking about with that, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:44:29.70,0:44:36.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having Penn on your resume, that’s basically, you know, the whole, the general thing basically.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:36.06,0:44:37.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your dream is what you’re looking at.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:37.80,0:44:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, when you’re coming out of that school, you’re grand and people look at
Dialogue: 0,0:44:41.04,0:44:46.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that and they think that when you’re coming out of Penn or Harvard, you’re like a Mercedes.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:46.01,0:44:49.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Right. But his… >> When you’re coming out of Penn State,…
Dialogue: 0,0:44:49.13,0:44:52.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> But his point though is — and it’s important to clarify this
Dialogue: 0,0:44:52.17,0:44:55.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and make sure that we get on the same page on this point —
Dialogue: 0,0:44:55.16,0:45:00.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that his point is that when you look at the statistical data for large numbers of people,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:00.58,0:45:07.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then those anecdotal stories actually don’t have as much explanatory value
Dialogue: 0,0:45:07.13,0:45:13.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the analysis that he did would have.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:13.19,0:45:15.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dixon, what do you think about this?
Dialogue: 0,0:45:15.47,0:45:20.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> So, when I was reading over it, I was interested to see that he says that
Dialogue: 0,0:45:20.21,0:45:25.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the person who is accepted to Penn and the person who’s accepted to Penn State would do the same thing
Dialogue: 0,0:45:25.28,0:45:32.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but then I was wondering, so admissions factors don’t always account for everything that person is capable of.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:32.64,0:45:38.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I think it might have been just outside of the scope for his project.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:38.33,0:45:45.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think that I would have been interested at this project have continued and then look at —
Dialogue: 0,0:45:45.34,0:45:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so — what are the things that the [inaudible] students for and how did those affect people in the upper strata
Dialogue: 0,0:45:51.20,0:45:56.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that normally wouldn’t be affected by the treatment
Dialogue: 0,0:45:56.01,0:46:03.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Princeton gives the, like the, really lower, lower strata that [inaudible] was talking about earlier.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:03.76,0:46:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Good. That’s very interesting.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:06.30,0:46:09.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, basically, I hope that we can use Alan Krueger’s study
Dialogue: 0,0:46:09.07,0:46:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a way of getting and thinking more about the questions that I raised
Dialogue: 0,0:46:13.87,0:46:19.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the end of the first lecture of how it is that the individual makes a difference.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:19.27,0:46:26.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the extent to which we are truly trapped by certain social circumstances.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:26.17,0:46:31.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, we imagine that the social circumstances that are surrounding us
Dialogue: 0,0:46:31.65,0:46:39.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are trapping us in ways that they actually are not, and it takes constant sociological investigation
Dialogue: 0,0:46:39.09,0:46:45.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to know the difference between a real trap and an illusion of one.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:45.34,0:46:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I want to end today’s discussion by just saying a little bit about where we’re going next.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:53.50,0:46:57.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to say, first of all, that this was an experiment today.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:57.90,0:47:01.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know that the discussion was by no means perfect
Dialogue: 0,0:47:01.63,0:47:06.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although it was as good as I could have ever hoped from a group of students around the world
Dialogue: 0,0:47:06.55,0:47:15.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I thought that your comments in the seminar today were really great and interesting and a wonderful beginning.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:15.33,0:47:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But technically it could be improved and we will certainly work on that in the weeks to come.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:22.10,0:47:25.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really appreciate the patience of everybody who’s watching
Dialogue: 0,0:47:25.61,0:47:29.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as your interest and I appreciate your support
Dialogue: 0,0:47:29.65,0:47:33.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and your understanding that we are part now of a really big experiment.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:33.20,0:47:37.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’re trying to do something new and I suspect that we’re going to learn a lot along the way.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:37.92,0:47:41.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When we meet the next time in the online forum,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:41.88,0:47:46.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we’re going to include some new people that were not here today; we’ll also have some familiar faces.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:46.53,0:47:53.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’ll try to substitute some new people in, to keep the conversation representing different parts of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:53.02,0:47:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, we will try to do some things to improve it each time
Dialogue: 0,0:47:57.20,0:48:02.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until we really get it to a point where it is something that is working really well and we are really happy with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:02.97,0:48:07.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I must say that for a first time today, for a first effort, I’m really pleased with this.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:07.63,0:48:13.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I also, I wanted to say that I was really excited to see the large number of study groups
Dialogue: 0,0:48:13.20,0:48:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had formed from around the world and I wanted to also give a special welcome to the people
Dialogue: 0,0:48:21.28,0:48:27.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are clearly participating in the class from Iran and from Afghanistan —
Dialogue: 0,0:48:27.80,0:48:35.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two countries which do not have the greatest relationship officially with the United States today
Dialogue: 0,0:48:35.64,0:48:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that is certainly not due to any ill feeling on the part of Americans
Dialogue: 0,0:48:43.94,0:48:50.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we certainly all believe that these kinds of contacts are the ones that we should be having
Dialogue: 0,0:48:50.48,0:48:53.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I hope that in our future online seminars
Dialogue: 0,0:48:53.53,0:48:59.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we can have representatives from Iran and from Afghanistan with us as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:59.10,0:49:02.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I ’m going to say goodbye to you all now.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:02.25,0:49:06.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, thank all of you online for participating in this wonderful experiment
Dialogue: 0,0:49:06.73,0:49:12.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I look forward to seeing you this Monday with the second lecture,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:12.06,0:49:16.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the discussion boards which I will be monitoring very carefully,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:16.07,0:49:26.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and of course, in our second online seminar next Wednesday.