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Well, I have had the opposite experience, but then again I'm not in tech. Thing is, the useless MBA image comes from the indiscriminate and formalistic practic

by jevgeni 11y ago

Well, I have had the opposite experience, but then again I'm not in tech. Thing is, the useless MBA image comes from the indiscriminate and formalistic practices of HR recruiters, who would equate an "MBA" with "value". So the incentives have changed from "I want to bring my company forward" to "I want a cushy job with little actual work". And it is true, that traditional business education has now suffered from this. What I ask myself, if CS will be immune to this. Judging that Fizz Buzz is still a thing, I'd say no.

x1024 11y ago
So you're saying that "No true MBA graduate is useless".
- jevgeni 11y ago
  Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? No, I am not saying that. The words "true MBA" have the same amount of content to them as "a true kitchen sink": zero. I say that people buy education for different reasons. Some get an MBA because they want to flash their CVs, have a cushy job, and avoid the strains of being original. Others get an MBA because they need the skills, the language, the professional network, and the confidence, that such degrees (at least from good universities) bring for a specific goal they want to accomplish, be that within an already established business or not. Saying that those kind of mind sets (or only one of those mind sets) is strictly particular to a group of people, which made a certain academic choice is wrong. In my professional experience, for example, I've met a lot more engineers who were absolutely useless from a business perspective, than I've met useless MBAs. Of course, this is because I've met way more engineers than MBAs.
  - pc86 11y ago
    > Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? Because they usually don't understand the fallacies themselves, let alone the argument someone else is making.
  - beachstartup 11y ago
    > Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? it's just what happens when you get a bunch of intelligent pedants in a 'room' together.
  - x1024 11y ago
    Well, when you quantify your opinion like that, there's not much of an opinion left to even debate. "Different people get an education for different reasons" is a nice statement, and I would even agree that it's true. But nothing follows from that. It's not a statement that one can draw conclusions from. In your original statement you're saying "MBAs are useless now, but it's because of HR, and it sucks that MBAs are useless but it didn't always use to be like that". Now you're saying "no, they aren't useless, in fact they're better than engineers". Oh, how easy it is to claim a strong point when you're unconstrained by the truth.
    - jevgeni 11y ago
      I haven't claimed a strong point. Neither have I said anything like what you are implying I've said. I've only tried to clarify my previous comments at which I seem to have failed.

by jevgeni 11y ago

x1024 11y ago

So you're saying that "No true MBA graduate is useless".

jevgeni 11y ago
Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? No, I am not saying that. The words "true MBA" have the same amount of content to them as "a true kitchen sink": zero. I say that people buy education for different reasons. Some get an MBA because they want to flash their CVs, have a cushy job, and avoid the strains of being original. Others get an MBA because they need the skills, the language, the professional network, and the confidence, that such degrees (at least from good universities) bring for a specific goal they want to accomplish, be that within an already established business or not. Saying that those kind of mind sets (or only one of those mind sets) is strictly particular to a group of people, which made a certain academic choice is wrong. In my professional experience, for example, I've met a lot more engineers who were absolutely useless from a business perspective, than I've met useless MBAs. Of course, this is because I've met way more engineers than MBAs.
- pc86 11y ago
  > Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? Because they usually don't understand the fallacies themselves, let alone the argument someone else is making.
- beachstartup 11y ago
  > Why are people on HN so obsessed with trying to find argument fallacies in comments? it's just what happens when you get a bunch of intelligent pedants in a 'room' together.
- x1024 11y ago
  Well, when you quantify your opinion like that, there's not much of an opinion left to even debate. "Different people get an education for different reasons" is a nice statement, and I would even agree that it's true. But nothing follows from that. It's not a statement that one can draw conclusions from. In your original statement you're saying "MBAs are useless now, but it's because of HR, and it sucks that MBAs are useless but it didn't always use to be like that". Now you're saying "no, they aren't useless, in fact they're better than engineers". Oh, how easy it is to claim a strong point when you're unconstrained by the truth.
  - jevgeni 11y ago
    I haven't claimed a strong point. Neither have I said anything like what you are implying I've said. I've only tried to clarify my previous comments at which I seem to have failed.