When Tucker Max was in law school (at Duke, a top-rated law school), he made a bet with his friends. He claimed he could sign up for a class, attend none of the classes, do none of the reading, never study, and — armed only with class notes from a friend (who attended the class) that he brings to the final without previously studying — get a 2.5 or better on the final, thus passing the course. (Highest possible grade is 4.0.) And he would let them choose the class.
A friend chose Federal Tax. A really tough class, it was said. The final lasted two hours. It consisted of several hypothetical situations to which you write an essay-like answer. Tucker finished 20 minutes early. He got a 2.7, which wasn’t the lowest score in the class (of about 60 students).
More trouble with the basics at Duke. For whom do law schools exist?
lol Seth, this anecdote brings back memories. When I was a freshman at Tufts, I was taking some kind of Intro to Psychology course that was required before taking any other classes in that department. It was a huge lecture class and the professor (to me at that age) was terrible. The first exam was multiple choice and so easy that I realized that I could quit the class (which felt like a complete waste of my time) and still do well. I sold my book, stopped attending the lectures, did not look at anyone’s notes, and bragged to my friends. My recollection is that I got B or a B+. It’s both funny and sad.
the purpose of going to law school (or any school for that matter) is not to get a grade; it’s to develop one’s mind. doing the reading and attending class is directed towards that purpose; the grades are a misdirection (think food pellets given to rats for pressing the right button) and incidental to the main purpose.
Peter, grades are not at all incidental to law school. Unlike undergrad, you are being ranked according to your GPA. Job opportunities are dependent on this ranking. (It’s true that grades are most important to securing your first job — after that, you will be evaluated on your job performance and experience.)
I agree with you in a general sense that the purpose of school is “to develop one’s mind”, but law school (like med and business school), is designed to teach you specific skills — how to perform a legal analysis, conduct legal research, write legal documents, etc. Grades are supposed to signal to future employers of how well you do those tasks relative to the other people in your class.
Peter, if anyone goes to law school to “develop one’s mind” I haven’t met them. The overwhelming reason is to become a lawyer. On the other side, law professors deeply dislike the notion that they are teaching job skills — so declasse! So most of them — at least at prestigious law schools like Duke and Berkeley — do as little of it as they can get away with, entirely consistent with a Veblenian view of academia (everyone tries to be as useless as possible).
I can believe the student’s story. I recently graduated from law school (2006) and I took federal tax. I would expect that with good notes and some time spent studying, a highly intelligent person could pass a law school course. Someone who was able to get into Duke law and has enough confidence to propose the bet must be pretty smart. Federal tax is tough, but it’s also fairly difficult to fail a law school course if you get a general gist of the concepts and have good writing skills.
I second one of the commenters in that grades aren’t the sole reason for the education and would agree that something is gained from the time spend in class over the course of the semester.
Veblen was trying to make a point — that academics, like many other groups of people, show off by showing how useless they can be. To make that point he gave examples. It’s like the difference between a drawing and a photograph; the drawing leaves out a lot for the sake of emphasis. A current example of what Veblen was talking about is here:
https://sethroberts.org/2007/09/11/modern-veblen-flight-from-data/
I wouldn’t criticize universities if they taught job skills. I’ve said about a thousand times that they should do more to help undergrads figure out what jobs they’d be good at and what jobs they’d enjoy. That’s close to teaching job skills. I know one law professor. She says that law professors should stop being second-rate philosophers and start teaching job skills. That’s what she tries to do but she’s the rare exception, according to her.
My name is Corina and I am a nerd. I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell is not a frat novel, it’s a gothic novel, how do I know? I know because I am a nerd. I contacted Tucker Max abou this, because the movie is a comedy based on a gothic novel, college students sucking dick in public restrooms is not laughing matter. what about the innocence of children? The Revolution of the Nerds start today. NERDS are the new Goths, our books are our weapons, and our mission in life is to defend the innocence of children.
I love your blog. Nice job.
“Fail Harder” – Mark Zuckerberg