Comment by perfTerm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by perfTerm | Hacker News Reader

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I hate typing on my phone so I'll make this short.

When it comes to companies, diversity is far better than having whatever the equivalent of "everyone looks the same and has the same SAT scores" so presumably it'd probably work to Harvard's benefit as well to encourage diversity whether mandated by law or not.

There's been plenty of studies pointing to the positives of diversity. In order to foster an environment which will be diverse you're probably going to have to skip over some of the kids from the populations that are large and generally well off even if they have better SAT scores.

I personally, have no problem with this. The kid who just missed getting into Harvard because of their race is probably going to an awesome school and statistically is more likely to come from a pretty good place in the world. They'll be fine.

The other kids who do get in though, get to go to a school that is better precisely because of the advantages diversity offers.

Here's some reading:

http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Innovation...

"The kid who just missed getting into Harvard because of their race is probably going to an awesome school and statistically is more likely to come from a pretty good place in the world. They'll be fine."

Or they kill themselves because their life goal is over or become bitter and hateful of others. Really hard to tell when you shatter someones dreams arbitrarily.

If not getting into Harvard is something that would cause someone to kill themself, then that's probably a good sign that they should not have been admitted. I'm not trying to be mean but someone who can't handle rejection or have confidence in their ability to do well without getting into Harvard is not Harvard material.

Yeah, there have been a couple comments in this thread with this kind of viewpoint; "How will I go on in life after all the opportunity cost of not getting into [insert high prestige school]".

I feel so sad for anyone that has such a futile outlook in life. Life is literally what you make it, not what some gatekeepers make of it for you.

I feel sad for them too, but it doesn't mean because I have never felt that way that it doesn't happen. The post I replied to was overly optimistic. Some might strive on and pick somewhere else. Some, like failed olympic athletes, might go down a darker road.

Sadly, a stint working with social services has taught me some folks, who are normal about everything else, have one event that they have strived for that will break them if they miss it. Its actually easier if it was your doing, but not when its your ancestry or other factor you had no control over.

> I hate typing on my phone so I'll make this short.

Have you considered getting the Blackberry Passport which features a physical keyboard which is also touch sensitive for swiping. I find the Passport quite interesting and it can also run Android apps.

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