<p>Is Harvard not a place of free intellectuals, then? (Like perhaps UC Berkeley would be). Like, is everyone so immersed in defeating competition and achieving unparalleled excellence that they forget...or just don't bother with...useless contemplations and debates (on transcendentalism, on the Vedas, on Foucault or Nietzsche or Dostoevsky) outside of class? Is it a total powerhouse...where every waking resource goes toward achievement and advancement...Is the atmosphere very rushed and intense? (No time for jovial, intellectual fun...or no room for it)...</p>