Comment by DonutATX
3 hours ago
I suggest you glance at the novel Ananthem by Neal Stephenson. The core plot device is about "universities" stripping all worldly items away from the students, so they are left with simple clothes and chalkboards. Fascinating topic, well executed by Neal. One of my favorite books.
This is nothing new. It is ancient.
Ancient Hindus divided life into four parts, the earliest was called "Brahmacharya" - core tenet of it was celibacy, but sons of kings and rich merchants lived ascetic lives in the teacher's house who was also an ascetic and a sage - no rich clothes, no luxury foods or comfort.
This was supposed to last till the age of 16, going as high as 21 for some.
The Buddhist monastery-universities of India also kept students under similar conditions - celibate, ascetic, and far from luxury.
The maths in the book where these students and scholars stayed in Anathem, were directly inspired by matths in India. I visited one last month.
Anathem* for those like me who googled it
God, what a great book, imo. My favorite Stephenson novel.
Mine, too. Cryptonomicon was the gateway drug. But I loved 'Anathem'.
This reminded me of Kvothe from Name of the Wind.
That sounds like the other extreme.