TL/DR (but read the link, it's worth it): MIT's Pirate Certificate became available in the Fall of 2011. MIT students who successfully complete Archery, Fencing, Pistol (or Rifle) and Sailing get the certificate.
It was intended as a fun way to incentivize students meeting the physical education component of their degree requirements. The certificate does not entitle the student to engage in piracy.
Of course typically (in the bluebeard era) pirates actually did have a charter, or really a Letter of Marque from the crown. One country's "pirate" was another country's outsourced naval agent. This was true also in the barbary states (hence the song of the US marines) and the straights of malacca et al.
The ones today in the horn of africa though, AFAIK, are indeed free agents.
The distinction being that if you are on the side that issued the letter of marque they were "privateers" while if they were attacking you they were "pirates"
Okay so this isn't totally related, but there's something about the mélange between pirates and techies that just makes my heart sing. I get that this course is just supposed to be fun/a joke... but the cultural kinship between pirates and technologists is actually strangely similar. Maybe MIT isn't structured like a pirate ship, but startups most certainly are. Great read:
I knew someone would bring up letters of marque but that's not really piracy is it? Especially not in the popular conception of pirates and piracy.
And Google defines a letter of marque as:
"a license to fit out an armed vessel and use it in the capture of enemy merchant shipping and to commit acts that would otherwise have constituted piracy."
Sounds like actions taken with letters of marque are perhaps specifically not piracy.
Well you'd still get to do all the pirate stuff, buckling your swash and splicing the mainbrace and all that. And there would be pieces of eight aplenty. You just wouldn't get hanged afterwards. Win-win situation!
While these acts are authorized by one country (through this letter of marque) it would still be considered piracy by other nations, especially the victims.
While piracy happens all over including hot-spots such as the Gulf of Guinea and the strait of Malacca, the only piracy that has received significant news coverage in Western media is that centered around Somalia.
I would totally latch onto something like this if it were available to me. Not that there is any point to it, but chasing little achievements is fun. I took Archery twice in college and sailing sounds like a lot of fun.
UChicago had one as a graduation requirement as late as 2013 or so, including a swim test (get to the end of a pool and back without dying, so not exactly evidence of swimming ability, but still).
Actually MIT not only has a phys ed requirement but you can't graduate without proving you can swim. And it has a pretty active club sports program.
I don't remember folks laughing at one another at MIT since we were mostly misfits in our prior schools anyway.
Here's a telling anecdote: I was at prize day (pretty much only people who actually get prizes go so it's in a small lecture hall), and one student got a major athletic award, apparently having set various NCAA records (presumably we were in some very minor subdivision of NCAA but anyway). He was huge, and he kinda stumbled on the stairs as an athlete will, and when he came up to the stage he merely mumbled inarticulately. I was astonished: a stereotype of the dumb jock! Then last they gave out the scholar-athlete award. No surprise, it was this same guy...but in addition to playing three sports he had a 4.8 average as a double major aero-astro and physics. No wonder he was so quiet: his brain was super busy!
You dont need to prove you can swim. But you do need to take one, maybe two, swimming courses even if you don’t end up learning to swim at the end of the day. I’ve never determined how rigorously this is enforced if push comes to shove but it is a requirement.
Back in '88, in my final semester, I was only registered for 5.11( or 5.41? Who can remember) as I had somehow never gotten around to satisfying the freshman chemistry requirement, though I had otherwise enough credits to graduate. I was checking my paperwork and the registrar's office told me I could not graduate unless I passed the swimming requirement.
I didn't even live in massachusetts any more though I came back frequently to make sure I took all the chemistry quizzes. Turned out they were closing the pool early to renovate it (I don't know if it's still there but it was behind building 26 IIRC). Apparently I luckily came by a couple of days before they closed it, right under the wire for the pool and registrar.
Back then there wasn't a swimming class requirement, you just had to take n semesters of PE. I remember doing ballet, badminton and pistol, but don't remember what else. Though I love to sail I didn't want to go anywhere near the charles or the harbor in those days.
>Back then there wasn't a swimming class requirement
What I meant was you had to either pass the swimming test or take it once or twice for PE whether or not you ever got to the point you could pass the test.
I actually never did either but that was because I had a SCUBA certification at the time which did have a swimming test requirement. So I got a waiver.
I regretted a bit that I didn't take better advantage of the PE options. At the time, I really liked playing ice hockey although I wasn't great at it so I mostly just took hockey as an option.
> Actually MIT not only has a phys ed requirement but you can't graduate without proving you can swim.
Heh, my school (Humboldt State though I think it's a California wide requirement) wouldn't let me graduate without proving I was literate...quite offensive.
Looking at this makes me want to dig in and find out what locales in the US actually license exotic dancers, because (if cheap enough) it would amuse me to be able to say I was a licensed exotic dancer during Meetups and meet-and-greets.
I also think that such might be amusing to MIT students who pursue the Pirate Certificate.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 118 ms ] threadIt was intended as a fun way to incentivize students meeting the physical education component of their degree requirements. The certificate does not entitle the student to engage in piracy.
Officially, yes, but as far as I know, it has existed there for much longer.
Aye, but a pirate requires no charter to sail the 7 seas
The ones today in the horn of africa though, AFAIK, are indeed free agents.
https://medium.com/@bagelboy/why-pirates-are-feared-5be709ae...
Lol / Too bad.
Don't they teach history at MIT? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
And Google defines a letter of marque as:
"a license to fit out an armed vessel and use it in the capture of enemy merchant shipping and to commit acts that would otherwise have constituted piracy."
Sounds like actions taken with letters of marque are perhaps specifically not piracy.
Well you'd still get to do all the pirate stuff, buckling your swash and splicing the mainbrace and all that. And there would be pieces of eight aplenty. You just wouldn't get hanged afterwards. Win-win situation!
1. Anyone can get it, not just MIT students
2. It does allow you to engage in acts of piracy
3. Includes the accent
Me, straight out of the airborne infantry before entering college, would've just looked at them with a disbelieving look and laughed...
I don't remember folks laughing at one another at MIT since we were mostly misfits in our prior schools anyway.
Here's a telling anecdote: I was at prize day (pretty much only people who actually get prizes go so it's in a small lecture hall), and one student got a major athletic award, apparently having set various NCAA records (presumably we were in some very minor subdivision of NCAA but anyway). He was huge, and he kinda stumbled on the stairs as an athlete will, and when he came up to the stage he merely mumbled inarticulately. I was astonished: a stereotype of the dumb jock! Then last they gave out the scholar-athlete award. No surprise, it was this same guy...but in addition to playing three sports he had a 4.8 average as a double major aero-astro and physics. No wonder he was so quiet: his brain was super busy!
I felt really humbled.
I didn't even live in massachusetts any more though I came back frequently to make sure I took all the chemistry quizzes. Turned out they were closing the pool early to renovate it (I don't know if it's still there but it was behind building 26 IIRC). Apparently I luckily came by a couple of days before they closed it, right under the wire for the pool and registrar.
Back then there wasn't a swimming class requirement, you just had to take n semesters of PE. I remember doing ballet, badminton and pistol, but don't remember what else. Though I love to sail I didn't want to go anywhere near the charles or the harbor in those days.
What I meant was you had to either pass the swimming test or take it once or twice for PE whether or not you ever got to the point you could pass the test.
I actually never did either but that was because I had a SCUBA certification at the time which did have a swimming test requirement. So I got a waiver.
I regretted a bit that I didn't take better advantage of the PE options. At the time, I really liked playing ice hockey although I wasn't great at it so I mostly just took hockey as an option.
Heh, my school (Humboldt State though I think it's a California wide requirement) wouldn't let me graduate without proving I was literate...quite offensive.
I also think that such might be amusing to MIT students who pursue the Pirate Certificate.
Cool laminated SOB license from Nash gov. :)
Although surely in some corner of the internet there's a subculture that fetishizes overweight, out-of-shape guys in leotards.