Protest

(My discussion with Vivian continued.)

“Your argument appears water-tight. However, it doesn’t sound right to me.” My wife said.

“You know, a major assumption of my argument is the presentation that our trendy students were doing was a casual in-house event, and it really depends on your point of view.” I said, “On one hand, it is nothing serious because the summer research project is just a minor part of their curriculum, and no one would have to repeat the class because of a poor performance here. On the other side of the coin, the presentation is not a regular update of what they do, but the showcase performance of their project, and is attended by many of their supervisors and professors. Although I’ve seen many research students wearing T-shirts and sandals when doing their class presentations, I have never encountered a single student in that kind of attire in the oral defense of their thesis.”

“My dear, you are changing your conclusion! Are you for or against casual wear?”

“What I’m getting at is, students who insist to put up pajamas for their presentation are doing a protest subconsciously because they think that the summer project is nuts. The problem is not about costume, but the curriculum itself!"