
Is the Minerva Project the future of higher education? - gpresot
http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/headline-story/9993/what-is-minerva-project/
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fapjacks
I interviewed over the phone a while ago with this company, and talked to the
founder. I am totally forgiving of interviewer attitude, because I used to
hire people myself, and also understand that bad days happen.

But this guy was so arrogant, so conceited, and treated me like the most
boring person in the world that was wasting his time. He talked exclusively
about himself, and how he was "making this project happen for his kid". He
said his motivation for founding the company was because he didn't like any of
the schools available to his child. I'm not of the opinion that people must
save the planet with a startup, but when you specifically say that you're
doing it exclusively to serve yourself and the uber-wealthy, I am not
interested. He also abruptly put me on hold _two_ times while someone came
into his office during our interview, with no apology whatsoever. We had
talked for maybe ten minutes when the second interruption happened, and when
he came back on the line, I apologized and said "the culture" wasn't right for
me, ending the interview.

My interview with this company is _memorably_ one of the worst interviews I
have ever had in my twenty years in the industry. There is no way in the
universe I would work for (or invest in) that company.

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bglazer
Given the "naked and unapologetic elitism" of the institution, I hope not.

"Yet, Nelson’s goal was to train only the best of the best, a category of
students he describes as being in the upper fraction of entrants to Ivy League
schools."

I fail to see inspiration in the idea of a rich guy grooming 18 year olds to
be future master of the universe types.

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cryoshon
Training the elite is a saturated market already, and really, the emphasis is
on networking and name branding rather than actual learning. See: Ivy league,
whatever else fits that bill. You don't necessarily need a strong education to
soar (though in my opinion it really helps), you need nepotism.

If you actually want kids to learn things, you need a triage system which
queries the optimal engagement and learning conditions for each individual
student to learn. Next, use the engagement conditions to prime the student
(get them excited to learn)for the material. Then, implement those optimal
learning and engagement conditions in a curricula that is 50% more complex
than what you think the student can handle. Adjust as needed.

The hardest part is getting the students to be engaged/curious and setting
them up with the resources and context to be an autodidact once class ends.
Most graduates don't have these things before or after college, and an
arbitrarily elite school isn't going to help them in and of itself. The
pretension of being elite does a lot of harm to students.

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smt88
> Training the elite is a saturated market already

This is true, but can the world change if the children of the elite aren't
taught to change it?

Much of the world operates as a plutarchy, including the United States. If the
people who inherit that power are taught why they should act against their own
short-term interests, there is a chance to change it.

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germinalphrase
The cynical attitude is that the true heights of power can only partially be
reached through meritocratic advancement. Sure, you need to be at the top of
your field - but there is a cultural/class/network element that only opens
certain positions of power to people within certain circles.

It sounds like Minerva is explicitly avoiding the goal of creating highest-
caliber professionals (the meritocracy route) - so what social/political
capital does the founder/faculty bring to the table to open these non-
meritocratic doors for their elite student body? If I am indeed one of these
exceptional and ambitious young people, why should I gamble with this startup
rather than climbing the well worn power ladder through the Ivy League?

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stared
I am into un-education, but I fail to grasp the idea, besides that it's new,
different, and for a small percentage of people (but WHAT are the criteria?
Being selective does not imply making a meaningful selection).

Right now (at least from this paper) it sounds more like "let's make yet
another prestigious university". And what is the educational added value?

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e40
The answer to the title question is clearly "no" given they are looking to
train the elite of the elite.

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wfo
It's the law of clickbait: any time the title of an article can be answered
with the word "no", that answer is both correct and complete.

~~~
mendelk
Although I am not at all convinced of it's quality, this has been made into a
"law":
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines)

