Yale Archives - Chris Carosa

Is Obedience To Authority A Virtue Or A Crime?

By Chris Carosa on January 24, 2023

Advertisement for Milgram Experiment subjects. The original uploader was Poolisfun at Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

World War II marks a turning point in almost every facet of mankind. From science to engineering, from business to politics, to the very core of our culture, the world changed as America rebuilt Europe and reframed Japan. You see a shift from a feudal/monarchical-centric philosophy towards a populace/organizational-centric viewpoint.

Within the academic arena, research on authority moved from the Sociology Department to the Psychology Department. In fact, one of the most famous and useful psychology experiments of the mid-twentieth century represents this shift. It answered the most compelling question regarding the nature of authority to come out of the Second World War.

The Psychological Origins of Authority

You might not recognize the name Stanley Milgram, but you’ll instantly recognize his Continue Reading “Is Obedience To Authority A Virtue Or A Crime?”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1980 Olympics, authority, Derek Jeter, earned, electroshock therapy, engagement, entitlement, Expert, Gold Medal, Holocaust, Lou Gehrig, marketing, Men's Hockey, Mike Eruzione, Miracle, Nazi, obediance, Obediance to Authority, psychology, Q-Rating, Rawhide, Stanley Milgram, The Pride of the Yankees, Thurman Munson, US Hockey, Yale

How To Steal An Election (And Get Away With It)

By Chris Carosa on December 6, 2022

Allow me to disclaim the following up front: I do not condone the stealing of elections. I believe every voter should be given a fair opportunity to vote and that every vote should count. I also don’t condone shoplifting.

Now, back to reality.

First you must recognize that national politics is no longer about doing good. It’s simply a business.

There’s no other way to describe it. When that much money is involved, and people have figured out a way to profit from all that money, well, that’s the very definition of a business.

There’s a word for those who seek to do good through running for public office. We call Continue Reading “How To Steal An Election (And Get Away With It)”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 2020 election, 2022 election, absentee ballot, capstone project, Christopher Arterton, election, George Washington, MBA, political entrepreneur, Simon School, steal, Yale

Why You Should Tell Bad Jokes

By Chris Carosa on August 2, 2022

Let me clue you in on this from the very beginning: this is another business metaphor. I’m telling you up front this time so you can begin to think about the connections from the moment you start reading it.

I was strolling through the National Comedy Center in Jamestown the other day, taking in with delight the many funny people who have entertained so many for so many years, when a thought struck me. Why do good comedians tell bad jokes?

When a comic sits down to write gags, it becomes an exercise of no-holds-barred brainstorming. This is by necessity. You don’t know what’s really funny while you’re creating it, so you don’t want to restrict yourself in any way.

James Mendrinos, in his book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Comedy Writing, writes: “You have to force yourself to stain the pages, even if you think the jokes aren’t your best work. I’m not saying that bad jokes are better than no jokes. I am saying that if Continue Reading “Why You Should Tell Bad Jokes”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, Great Speaking Tips, Great Writing Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged ad lib, Animal Crackers, business, comedy, David Letterman, George S. Kaufman, Groucho Marx, James Mendrinos, Jason Zinoman, John Vorhaus, Johnny Carson, joke, Judy Carter, Marx Brothers, Morrie Ryskind, National Comedy Center, Robert S. Bader, Rule of Three, Speaking, success, The Cocoanuts, writing, Yale

40 Years Later And The Ties Still Bind

By Chris Carosa on June 21, 2022

D’porters (et al) begin to assemble at Yorkside

Heraclitus has visited this page in the past (“You Can’t Go Home Again… Or Can You?” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, September 22, 2016). For those new to this column, he’s the Greek fella who said “You can’t step into the same river twice.”

Get it? It might be the same river, but the constant current means the water isn’t the same. It’s a nifty little metaphor about the ever-changing world.

Cool. You can live with that, right?

Now, let me throw a monkey wrench into those churning waters of the relentless Continue Reading “40 Years Later And The Ties Still Bind”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Class of 1982, Cottage, Davenport, Heraclitus, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Pepe's, Pierson, Pnce de Leon, Sally's, Yale, Yorkside

First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It

By Chris Carosa on May 24, 2022

For some reason (and probably a good one if you think about it), the powers that be have decreed May 28^th as “National Hamburger Day.” This coincides nicely with the month of May either being “National Hamburger Month” and “National Burger Month,” depending on whose press release you read.

As a result, no doubt you’ve read, listened to, or watched something about the almighty burger at your favorite news outlet. The question you should ask (but won’t know to) is whether what you’re reading, hearing, or seeing is true. Unfortunately, in all likelihood, probably not.

To help set the record straight, here are the top ten myths about the origin of the first hamburger:Continue Reading “First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1885, 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Athens, beefsteak tartare, boulette, Buffalo, Charles Menches, Civil War, Clint Murchison, cotton candy, Dallas cowboys, Dallas Morning News, erie county fair, Fairy Floss, Fletcher Davis, Frank Menches, frikadelle, Germany, hamburg, Hamburg Fair, Hamburg Steak, Hamburger, James H. Salisbury, John C. Kunzog, Louis' Lunch, Menches Brothers, National Burger Month, National Cheeseburger Day, National Hamburger Day, New Haven, Ray Kroc, Salisbury steak, September 18, Tartars, Texas, World War I, World War II, Yale

Journey Beyond The Center Of The ‘Stacks’

By Chris Carosa on August 10, 2021

Science majors got their own libraries. These contained the specialized journals of their respective fields. Much smaller than expansive University-wide libraries, they offered cozier confines, their size based on the number of students majoring in that subject.

Yale’s Astronomy Library was also probably the smallest library on campus. I was the only Astronomy & Physics major in my class. (Back in my day, the only way you could major in astronomy was to double major in physics. It was a lot of classes, with precious little room for elective courses like philosophy, literature, history, and, well, just about everything else.)

My virtually personal reference room was a treasure trove of ancient knowledge. And by ‘ancient’ I mean the actual data is centuries old. Astronomy, for the most part, collects light data from distant stars, galaxies, and nebulae. The objects responsible for these traveling photons lie lightyears distant, sometimes thousands of light years away.

While a light year represents a measure of distance, it also tells you how long ago the Continue Reading “Journey Beyond The Center Of The ‘Stacks’”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Antares, astronomy, atomic bomb, Cross Campus Library, J.W. Gibbs, lasagna, Library, magazine, Magna Carta, microwave popcorn, Orville Redenbacher, Physics, Proxima Centauri, stacks, Sterling Memorial Library, World War II, Yale

Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?

By Chris Carosa on December 3, 2019

When it comes to “The Game,” precedent has no say. The annual Yale-Harvard ritual evokes a rivalry that transcends the ages, as well as the win-loss record of the season’s previous games. So it was in 1979 when the heavily favored undefeated Yale Bulldogs fell to the Harvard Crimson in the season’s ultimate game by the score of 22-7.

Even the final score means nothing. In 1968, when Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds to earn a tie, the Harvard Crimson headline read: “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.”

This year, the 136^th edition of The Game was much anticipated. ESPN had it moved up an hour to a noon start since the Yale Bowl has no lights. Yale, with a record of 8-1, scoring an average of 37.4 points-per-game and fighting for the Ivy League title, was the odds-on favorite to defeat Harvard, losers of four straight. Was anyone surprised, then, that the first half ended with Harvard beating the Bulldogs by a solid 15-3 margin?

The halftime show changed everything.Continue Reading “Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alumni Assembly Convocation, Buffalo Bills, Campusland, Doonesbury, ESPN, football, Harvard, Kabayashi Maru, M*A*S*H, Marv Levy, Peter Salovey, resilient, Scott Johnston, Star Trek, The Game, YAA, Yale, Yale Bowl

The World – The Universe – That Might Have Been… (Part I)

By Chris Carosa on October 15, 2019

There’s this thing. It’s called the “multiverse.” Today we think of it as a series of parallel universes that exist simultaneously. This definition stems from a “lunatic” speculative physical interpretation of his mathematical equations made by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger’s in a 1952 Dublin lecture.

Oddly, American psychologist and philosopher William James originally coined the term in his May 1895 lecture “Is Life Worth Living?” presented to the Young Men’s Christian Association of Harvard University. James meant it to mean a chaotic amoral alternative to the universe we live in.

Today, scientists and science fiction writers prefer Schrödinger’s meaning. The multiverse theory officially emerged with a 1957 paper by Continue Reading “The World – The Universe – That Might Have Been… (Part I)”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged acausal, Apollo, astronomy, Big Tree Elementary, Bill Gutsch, Bryce DeWitt, Channel 13, determist, Electricity and Magnetism, Erwin Schrodinger, Good Morning America, Hugh Everett, Physics, quantum physics, Strasenburgh Planetarium, telescope, third grade, Willam James, William Gutsch, Woodlawn Elementary, Yale

A Look Back at Tomorrow – Review of Campusland

By Chris Carosa on September 24, 2019

I have to admit, Campusland is not the kind of book I would normally read, precisely because it’s the kind of book everybody reads. When it comes to popular fiction, I tend to abide by the Yogi Berra maxim “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too busy.”

But I had to read Campusland.

Call it “being true to your school” (the author was a classmate of mine).

Call it “reciprocity” (he’s followed my own author’s journey, including, of all things, my being interviewed by his cousin at a radio station in Minnesota).

Most important, call it “inspired curiosity” (the topic promised the allure of topical irreverence).

The story takes us through (literally) the trials and tribulations of several characters during Continue Reading “A Look Back at Tomorrow – Review of Campusland”

Posted in Book Reviews, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 10th grade, 11th grade, 1984, Absurdism, Albert Camus, Buck Houghton, Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, existentialism, Five Characters in Search of an Exit, Galileo, Gates Chili, George Orwell, Jean-Paul Sartre, Marvin Petal The Depository, Meursault, No Exit, Rod Serling, Scott Johnston, The Jungle, The Stranger, The Twilight Zone, Theodore Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair, Winston Smith, Yale

To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective

By Chris Carosa on July 16, 2019

To boldly go…
The Quest…
Man’s calling…
To boldly go…

As simple as opening the door to a strange room.

As complicated as unlocking the key to a new science.

The urge impels us all to take that first step into unchartered terrain.

Some would rather give others the initial chance.

But there comes a point when human nature drives us to follow those pioneers into a new land of innovation and invention.

That’s when we undertake The Quest.

The Quest.
To discover the undiscovered.
To explore the unexplored.
To know the unknown.

* * * * *

I wanted to write something special, something personal, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of mankind’s greatest voyage of exploration since Columbus… so far. It didn’t take me long to realize I had already written it and it had already appeared in The Sentinel. This Commentary originally appeared as “The Thrill of Beyond” in the July 20, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel to mark the 20^th anniversary of America’s lunar landing. Here it is in its entirety. (Click the link in the title to see the original in text form.)
Continue Reading “To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Apollo 11, Galileo, International Year of Astronomy, moon landing, RIT, Strasenburgh Planetarium, United Nations, Yale