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Dipa Patel

September 27th, 2018

Welcome to the LSE. I don’t care what you think.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Dipa Patel

September 27th, 2018

Welcome to the LSE. I don’t care what you think.

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Altiplano Rock Jean-Paul FaguetProfessor Jean-Paul Faguet
Programme Director,
MSc Development Management

Dear student,

Welcome to the LSE. I don’t care what you think.

Or maybe, to be a bit more accurate, the fact that you think something is not itself very convincing. I am interested – indeed very interested – in what you think, because in some respect it is bound to be wrong. I’m here to teach and you’re here to learn. Identifying those mistaken assumptions, informational gaps, and incorrect mental models is one of our most pressing priorities. Along the way we will also identify the many correct assumptions, informational assets, and insightful mental models that you also have.

But it is important that we both understand this from the start: your opinions do not have some irreducible merit because they are yours. Nor do mine, nor do any of my colleagues’ (yes, not even that one). What does have merit is the product of our intellectual sweat, founded on solid theory and well-chosen evidence, leading to insights about how the world works that are both non-obvious and true. We’re pretty sure we have some of these at the LSE – otherwise we wouldn’t be here. But we’re equally sure that there’s a great deal that we, and the rest of the world, do not yet understand. The main point of academia – especially at the postgraduate level – is to distinguish what we know from what we don’t know, and to improve the tools we have for pushing back the darkness. In the latter especially, your help is crucial, because you are not invested in the tools and models that we currently have, and so are more likely to come up with creative new ones.

Welcome to the LSE. It’s going to be intense and frustrating at first. And then it’s going to be exhilarating. We’re delighted that you came.


See Professor Faguet discuss the MSc in Development Management here.

About the author

Dipa Patel

Dipa Patel is the Communications and Events Manager for the Department of International Development at LSE. She is also the Managing Editor of the ID at LSE Blog.

Posted In: News from the Department

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