I have been wondering about this for a long time until Prof. Gentry spelled the magic process of adverse selection in full. Economists indeed have a formal name and analysis of this phenomonen. When one thing involves many qualities, some observable and some not. The ultimate result is that different entities compete upon what is observable and what is unobservable is left to its worst quality so long as it does not affect the observable quality in a negative way.
That works in politics too. And unfortunately, it works so obviously on campus. With students caring so much and competing so much on resumes, different activities seems to be flourishing. And indeed nothing is really happening. It is almost a proud thing to participate in so many clubs and get a title like treasurer or co-president (sounds nice), without actually knowing what to expect from the experience. People rush to easy classes to boost their GPA. Students no longer strive to understand the material as long as they can get an A. After all, no one knows how much you understand besides looking at the grade. And when the grade inflation is so blatantly rampant, why bother?
When my Professor told me sarcastically that I can observe the days before the finals, when everyone will be dilligent, I ask myself, is this the best result we can get?
