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Re: Bin Laden Dead
Old 05-05-2011, 05:47 AM   #64
KillerGremlin
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Default Re: Bin Laden Dead

I don't want to get too deeply into it, but here are my thoughts on college and the current school system. In bullet point/list form for easy consumption.

-Job/Work experience has been devalued by the perpetuated belief (which comes from the academic world) that you _NEED_ a college degree to be useful in the work environment

-The belief that Intelligence = "Good Grades/Success in school" has also been falsely perpetuated by the current academic world. Standardized tests, GPA, success in school = bullshit for being the "end all be all" determinant of intelligence.

-You should go to college because you are passionate about learning. This is where I disagree with the popular Internet sentiments. If you want to get a philosophy degree, or art degree, or music degree, then do it! This belief that only engineering degrees or business degrees are useful is total bullshit.

-Happiness is not measured by how much money you make. Many happy people went to college and got philosophy or art degrees. Likewise, success is not measured by your engineering degree. Look at most business tycoons, millionaires, entrepreneurs, or genius-to-CEO types. Most of them are college dropouts, didn't go to college, or took alternative education paths.

-The Administrators and Teachers in the world of academia KNOW THAT DEGREES DO NOT EQUAL JOBS. Colleges NEED to recruit kids. High school kids pay for colleges to fund research. It is no coincidence that colleges open their doors to just about anyone these days.

-Most people SHOULD NOT GO TO COLLEGE

-At one point, jobs like: cooking, interior design, and other craft jobs were highly valued without the attached BA or MA or whatever

-The market is flooded with people with college degrees, this is a problem.

-Academia is largely full of itself.

-It is hugely unfair to ask an 18 year old to map out their life, their passion, and their future career. Most 18 year olds should work for a few years, get some life experience, and then decide if they want to go to college. High schools push kids to pick a college because it is the expectation...this relationship is symbiotic. I believe that people who run the colleges encourage policy or advocacy that perpetuates the belief that high schools need to push kids into college. The net result is a cycle driven largely by money.


I regret going to college at 18. I'm glad I did in the long run, and I think ultimately I would have decided to attend, but I could have gained some valuable life experience working for 2 years instead of failing out of and hating engineering. I would guess-timate that about 3 out of 4 of my friends ended up altering their path during college. I would guess that about 2 out of 4 of my friends made DRAMATIC life changes. By dramatic I mean: dropping out of college, doing a total major change, doing a total college change.

That's like....75% of the people I know altered their course...
50% did so dramatically

I would also say that a lot of my friends who are graduating are in the position of: "I have a degree...now what the fuck do I do."

I happen to be in that boat too, with a largely useless (due to flooded market) psychology degree. Fortunately, I am passionate about psychology, and am passionate enough about what I learned in college to feel like I got something meaningful out of my education. I was also lucky enough to work at two real jobs during my college years, so I have real world work experience.

Instead of rushing off to the next degree mill, I am taking a year or two off to work and research graduate school. I intend to pursue a masters and possibly a PhD, but right now I am a bit burned out and want to get some more work experience, save some money, and enjoy being out of academia for a bit. By fall of 2012 I plan to be applying for grad school, but in the meantime I am applying the brakes.

This is turning into one of my most pointless, rambling posts yet...but I think the points I want to hit home are:

-We have devalued non-college jobs and non-college success
-College is not for everyone and academia is exploiting this
-The current structure for education has created degree mills, which in turn has devalued the arts

I, personally, would never tell someone who is very passionate about philosophy or art to avoid college. The reality is that some of the brightest, most interesting, and most seasoned people reside within academia. I have met some professors who have life-wisdom as well as field experience that is unparalleled. Books can certainly be enlightening, but your local library cannot rival the life story's or the experience of a seasoned faculty member. There was a point in time where it was understood that you go to college to get a degree because you are interested in learning more about that field of study. Nowadays people are no longer interested in learning, the new belief is that you get a degree because a degree=jobs. This is why we see a devaluing of the arts. Philosophy can be just as hard as engineering or physics, but the average Joe-slacker will have a much easier time doing minimal work in philosophy than engineering. This is just due to the nature of the redundancy checks built into the respective degrees. Engineering at face-value is much harder than philosophy. To say that someone who majored in philosophy could not invest as much time and work as someone who majored in engineering is fallacious.

At any rate, I make sleep now.

Last edited by KillerGremlin : 05-05-2011 at 05:57 AM.
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