Word to that. Growing up in a factory/farm area of the country, a common joke here is that PhD means ‘Piled high and Deep’. Some of the smartest guys I know never had a degree but could design and build marvelous things. Give me real world know how that’s made it happen because they had to or they didn’t eat.
“Word to that. Growing up in a factory/farm area of the country, a common joke here is that PhD means ‘Piled high and Deep’. Some of the smartest guys I know never had a degree but could design and build marvelous things.”
Both are not mutually exclusive. There are brilliant minds with PhD’s and brilliant minds without them, or without having any higher degree at all. One does not preclude the other. Both have value. Elites with degrees should not denigrate the non-degreed Bill Gates/Rush Limbaugh types of the world, and those without higher degrees should not blanket judge as worthless those that have degrees. There is room for both.
I do agree that there is too much emphasis on credentials these days in light of the fact that bachelor’s degrees are being handed out like candy to just about anyone. I retired after 25 years working at a major public university, so I know this. They (bachelor degrees) are the equivalent of a high school degree from 25-30 years ago, IMO.
Again, I maintain a brilliant and/or industrious mind knows few boundaries and those that have one will make themselves known through what they accomplish in life. You can’t keep a good man, his curiosity and work ethic down. The least of us can be exceedingly clever and innovative when the spirit or necessity moves us.
There should be fewer barriers to those without degrees but with other skills than there are currently. Those with degrees tend to protect their own to keep out the non-degreed but with great potential or with particular talents. It smacks of the old class system of a different sort that our forefathers left Europe over. This country was founded primarily by the hard work and innovations of those without degrees.
However, in the highly technical fields of today like advanced math, physics, some new fields of engineering, etc., generally a higher degree becomes a necessity, although not always. Some fields are now so complex and specialized in nature that there just aren’t that many self trained people to be found.
Bottom line, live and let live - degreed or not, and let the innovations and discoveries roll, whatever their origins and without the vitriol and pitting of one against the other.