3 ms·

- Is college overrated? - Yes. People keep endorsing college education because it makes them seem smart.

• gizmo 11y ago
  Except that is a totally different explanation (and much less plausible). Example: Parents are not motivated by seeming smart nor do they get credit for acting smart when they push their kids to go to college because it's the default position. Sending your kids to college is simply what "respectable people" do. This plausibly leads to a social desirability bias. I'm pretty skeptical about the magnitude of this effect, though. I would say the popularity of higher education can be better explained by the zero-sum nature -- and hence arms race -- of competition for jobs.