> The elitism is rife to a level unlike in California.
Awhile ago, to students at MIT, I mentioned suspiciously "MIT shop" companies, and said that, if you don't think there's people at Northeastern who could hold their own, then recalibrate worldview.
There's absolutely a lot of elitism around certain NE schools known around the world, agreed. Those schools actively promote it, and it's evident in some post-graduation things, including companies.
But I also see variations on that elitism around Stanford, Google, and some other Bay Area icons.
One difference between the elitism I notice most commonly around MIT, and around Bay Area, is that MIT's version is often about having survived a trial by fire, and being uniquely stronger due to that (not that I fully agree). Bay Area versions more often come across as less-secure reaching for and clinging to symbols of status, and nurturing artificial frat-like exclusivity. (Clinging to Leetcode hazing rituals is just one example.)
Of course, on an individual person level, you'll find a lot of smart and thoughtful people who don't subscribe to the elitism -- maybe the majority of people who could claim the same exclusive club as the elitists. And some of the smartest people are the most humble in thought and manner. But elitism does seep into a lot of things.
I suppose that club elitism might also be involved in some of the more arrogant actions you see affecting large swaths of society, separate from money/power motivations. The Bay Area sure does have a lot of that arrogance, sometimes labeling it "disrupt". (But maybe most often "disrupt" is more about grabbing money/power, than a genuine but arrogant belief that one can and should make decisions for society. Maybe all that matters to some is that they can, and anything else, like "changing the world [for better/worse, who cares]" is rationalization that's been blessed as virtuous.)
> But I also see variations on that elitism around Stanford, Google, and some other Bay Area icons.
Absolutely! And no place is without it's elitism. It's just annoying that Boston's is based on a specific identity that cannot be absolved (where you went to school for elementary, high, then college) versus something that adults have some autonomy to define (Cambridge and Somerville was much more refreshing, but the same issues persisted underneath).
That said, everyone should cut people to size whenever any form of elitism arises. It's all bullshit, we make good money - what's the point about clinging to a specific identity.
Awhile ago, to students at MIT, I mentioned suspiciously "MIT shop" companies, and said that, if you don't think there's people at Northeastern who could hold their own, then recalibrate worldview.
There's absolutely a lot of elitism around certain NE schools known around the world, agreed. Those schools actively promote it, and it's evident in some post-graduation things, including companies.
But I also see variations on that elitism around Stanford, Google, and some other Bay Area icons.
One difference between the elitism I notice most commonly around MIT, and around Bay Area, is that MIT's version is often about having survived a trial by fire, and being uniquely stronger due to that (not that I fully agree). Bay Area versions more often come across as less-secure reaching for and clinging to symbols of status, and nurturing artificial frat-like exclusivity. (Clinging to Leetcode hazing rituals is just one example.)
Of course, on an individual person level, you'll find a lot of smart and thoughtful people who don't subscribe to the elitism -- maybe the majority of people who could claim the same exclusive club as the elitists. And some of the smartest people are the most humble in thought and manner. But elitism does seep into a lot of things.
I suppose that club elitism might also be involved in some of the more arrogant actions you see affecting large swaths of society, separate from money/power motivations. The Bay Area sure does have a lot of that arrogance, sometimes labeling it "disrupt". (But maybe most often "disrupt" is more about grabbing money/power, than a genuine but arrogant belief that one can and should make decisions for society. Maybe all that matters to some is that they can, and anything else, like "changing the world [for better/worse, who cares]" is rationalization that's been blessed as virtuous.)