I went to a seminar on Thursday about CEO compensation and how it has increased by 500% from 1980 to today. The only reason why I went was because my old 14.13 professor came from Boston to deliver the seminar. I was curious to as how I would feel. Would I suddenly see him and be transported back to his class? I have a vision of myself staggering out of bed at 8:45, frantically throwing on clothing, brushing my teeth, and barely making it to my 9AM class in E51-147. Sitting in the front row next to Amy and Julia and trying desperately to stay awake. The required trip to ABP after class in the two and a half hour break between 14.13 and 15.437. The routine cheese, egg, and sausage (or bacon) toasted bagel. Watermelon for Amy. Oatmeal for Julia. Large peach iced tea for me.
As expected, the professor didn't recognize me at all, and I felt nothing when I saw him standing at the lecturn yet again. There was just a lot of nothing. He looked the same as always, neatly dressed, the grin, the intense stare from under the dark eyebrows. He did seem more nervous than usual, drinking simultaneously from a nalgene bottle and a Dasani at the same time. The paper itself had much less math than I had expected (Generally not a good sign), and he tried to finish instead of fielding questions more professionally, which is very bad for a seminar.
A slight digression here. The seminar is almost like a trial (except that people are generally on your side, even when they seek to humiliate you by asking questions that you can't answer). The worst thing that could possible happen is if you're twenty minutes into your presentation and no one has asked a question. It means that your paper sucks beyond belief. Generally, the questions start, and they don't stop. Every miniscule point (if it's not strong enough) gets picked apart. Most assumptions are just massacred, and questions are raised about the main points as well. Nervewracking would be a minor term. It's literally a trial by fire. A good seminar is one where everyone tries to cream the speaker and the speaker manages to answer questions sufficiently and to show some humility at the same time.
This professor simply addressed most questions with the statement that it would be addressed in a later slide. He supressed questions three times and repeatedly stated that he had to get through his presentation. This is totally acceptable if he were teaching an undergraduate class (Maybe he was confused), but less so when presenting to his peers. Ah well. Not that it matters to me anymore.
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