And these pursuits are quite valid because, under the current grading system, grades matter. Grades can incite false incentives to learn. When students are constantly considering their grades, often students will succeed in a class because they are being graded and not because they want to learn the material. We observe students learning nothing up until a test, cramming for the test, and forgetting the material thereafter. Not only does this activity hurt these students' intellectual pursuits, it inhibits those students in the class who are their simply out of interest.
Grades can incite false incentives to take classes.
Under the current grading system, students will often choose classes based upon anticipated grades, i.e., students will choose classes that are known to be easily graded or choose the less intense version of a class, simply because they are afraid of receiving a poor grade. Now this reaction is valid since a student's GPA is elevated to enormous importance under the current grading system. Grades can hurt MIT graduates' standing in the job market due to grade inflation at other prestigious academic institutions. There is no doubt that other prestigious academic institutions promote grade inflation. Some schools have even publically announced such pursuits in recent years.