I've been reminded of this bizarre habit half a dozen times in the last week, most recently with an accountant, who's nearing his second retirement, who manages to slip in "when I was at MIT" at least twice a day - like nothing else in his entire life gives him the cachet he needs to validate himself.
And then it came up again here yesteday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APV_caBjO60 where Paul Reiche (the guy on the left) manages to slip in that he went to Berkeley every time he talks about his college experience probably 30 years prior. Even weirder, during his time in high school, he spent some time at LHS (Lawrence Hall of Science) and manages to turn that into a Berkely education credit.
Here's a guy who's incredibly accomplished in his own right, I mean he did Star Control and Star control II for goodness sake, and has to turn his time at a k-12 student resource center into a Berkely reference. It's like a weird form of academic credit Tourettes.
By way of comparison, the guy on the right, Fred Ford, manages to not do this and instead actually says "college".
On the flip side, if I ever move out to the Bay Area I'll have to start slipping in random institutes I've been at. "When I was at the Louvre" (I've walked two of the three wings" instead of "some art museums", and "when I studied music at the Music School No. 1 in Yekaterinburg" instead of "listened to a student performance while on vacation", and I'll save my trump card "when I was at Princeton" (I had a business meeting on campus once).
Come to think of it I could mine this sort of pseudo-academic inflation for weeks. Who knew going to the Ontario Science Center when I was 14 could give me so much street cred!
Just a note for hezekiah - you've been hellbanned (as of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2751543). Not sure why - and from looking at your comment history prior to your ban you seem like a reasonable person, so I thought I'd let you know.
And then it came up again here yesteday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APV_caBjO60 where Paul Reiche (the guy on the left) manages to slip in that he went to Berkeley every time he talks about his college experience probably 30 years prior. Even weirder, during his time in high school, he spent some time at LHS (Lawrence Hall of Science) and manages to turn that into a Berkely education credit.
Here's a guy who's incredibly accomplished in his own right, I mean he did Star Control and Star control II for goodness sake, and has to turn his time at a k-12 student resource center into a Berkely reference. It's like a weird form of academic credit Tourettes.
By way of comparison, the guy on the right, Fred Ford, manages to not do this and instead actually says "college".
On the flip side, if I ever move out to the Bay Area I'll have to start slipping in random institutes I've been at. "When I was at the Louvre" (I've walked two of the three wings" instead of "some art museums", and "when I studied music at the Music School No. 1 in Yekaterinburg" instead of "listened to a student performance while on vacation", and I'll save my trump card "when I was at Princeton" (I had a business meeting on campus once).
Come to think of it I could mine this sort of pseudo-academic inflation for weeks. Who knew going to the Ontario Science Center when I was 14 could give me so much street cred!
sigh