Posted on 08/09/2010 12:41:02 PM PDT by decimon
Good Will Hunting had the same thought 13 years ago, except he used the library:
Will: “See, the sad thing about a guy like you is in 50 years you’re gonna start doin some thinkin on your own and you’re gonna come up with the fact that there are two certaintees in life. One, don’t do that. And Two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a f***n education you coulda got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.”
I have to agree with Gates to some degree here. The very nature of how and where we learn is changing. H.S. and college kids are going to a physical location, but then being given work to do that’s on the web. At some point I can see cutting out the middle man.
My professional designations have all been studied and tested over the web. Something entirely unheard of nearly 10 years ago, you were required to go to a designated testing center. You can still go to a testing center, but then you taake the test on the web.
A college degree helped me get an interview for my first job - an ad agency position for minimum wage. After that, I had to learn the business and show drive and smarts to advance.
Other than a “college graduate club” membership card, what else is a degree good for? I’m very seldom impressed with run-of-mill graduates.
Don't forget murder.
While certainly not all of their training can be web-based, a lot of it could be. It could reduce the cost and time considerably.
(By the way, I have a doctorate in one of the more lucrative and highly competitive health professions.)
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or what, but I built my gaming computer (dual core 3ghz cpu, 4gb ddr2 ram, radeon hd 4850 gpu among other things) for under $500 excluding a case/monitor/mouse/keyboard which I already had. With those things it would be closer to $700 if you don’t buy some luxurious peripherals and or some huge monitor. So, I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. And that’s for a gaming computer. If you just want to do work on your computer you could build it for even cheaper.
I’m making this comment because many people aren’t aware but you can actually buy computer parts and assemble them yourself (it’s not that hard, look up videos on youtube) or are not aware of how cost effective it is to do so. Just thought I’d let you know in case you ever find yourself considering buying some random Dell computer for some ridiculous price like $1200. Also, a lot of bullshit prices get added on when they pre-install stupid software you don’t need or want. This does not happen if you do it yourself. :)
Be careful what you say about others, often it applies to YOU in far greater measure.
Hey, he didn’t say there’d be no role for universities. But truly smart engineers could study completely through online schools before going to work at NASA. Future docs we might still want to have mucking around with cadavers before they start their internships and residencies with live patients.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQezXbiroiE
No need for engineers, doctors, biologists, chemists?
Gates is correct, even if he does not speak as an academic insider.
The truth is that colleges need to be much smaller institutions, reserved for essential face-to-face communication from specialized experts to specialized experts-in-training. College degrees should be rare.
The idea that they should provide white collar vocational training, or even worse, liberal arts training, as other than a recreation, is far more expansive that we can afford to have.
Though irrationally, a federal court decision has said that employers must rely on college degrees instead of conducting their own examinations, theoretically to prevent race based hiring. The truth is that examination is the only sane way to hire employees.
For his part, Microsoft is allowed to hire based on competency, because their examinations are both so specialized, and so incredibly difficult, that just to pass one almost guarantees employment from a whole list of corporations. There are relatively few liberals arts grads working for Microsoft.
So what do employers lose because of college degrees?
They lose perhaps the four of the most productive and least expensive years of their employees lives.
Their employees become heavily indebted, so must always look out for work elsewhere that pays more—damaging their loyalty. And they have to delay the employment stabilizing factors of marrying and having children, as well as buying a house.
And frustratingly, just because they have a diploma does not mean that they have the essential core competencies they need. In fact, they likely need to be retrained in basic skills like math and English, just so they can function. At the expense of their employer.
My husband looked up “How to repair a broken Volkwagen Key” and saved us a bundle compared to buying a new one.
“No need for engineers, doctors, biologists, chemists?
The man is a tool, a fool, and a moron.”
What percentage of college degrees are issued in those four fields of study? And of the engineering degrees how many are for software engineering, which can easily be done via distance learning without attending a traditional college.
For that matter, please remind me what degree Mr. Gates holds (other than honorary ones) and how that degree aided him in his career. Also explain to the rest of us how your degree enabled you to do better in your career than he has done in his career. I would be fascinated by that.
Having done that, please explain why you consider him a tool, a fool and a moron. Illustrate your thesis with some concrete examples.
What RobRoy was doing there was called sarcasm. He knows you can get a computer for less than $1,000.
;)
I bought my wife’s laptop for $425 two years ago. Yeah, I was being sarcastic. :)
I NEVER call people names like that unless I was being sarcastic. :)
I like to put it this way: If I meant it, I wouldn’t have said it.
he’s right on. If the state monopoly and in bred Ivy leaguers would get out of the way, we’d have a lot more kids with home based education that actually knew history and mathematics. The sciences where you need labs and some of the arts may need the facilities that a “school” can offer, but most of the time it’s just grab ass, group projects, who is dating who and BS.
Just think, one doesn't have to get stuck all semester possibly with a leftist azzroid professor nor have colleges lay a huge albatross of economic debt around the neck either.
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