it's not so cut and dried. For one thing, suppose that someone really wanted to study history and loved their university studies, it was the best years of thei

it's not so cut and dried. For one thing, suppose that someone really wanted to study history and loved their university studies, it was the best years of their life. Firstly, perhaps having a degree lets them get a job - even outside of history. It can be a plus in any corporate job, regardless of whether it's related in any way to history. Among other things it creates cultural fit, makes interesting colleagues. This has direct positive effects all over. It also shows people's ability to work through a complex and long degree program. There is another thing though: the fact is that this can be kind of a "white lie" that they needed to go do a degree in history. Perhaps they didn't - perhaps they could have started their corporate career 4 years earlier with no bad ramifications. Still, they wanted and enjoyed that time and expanded as a person. It can be in people's interests to keep up the white lie that it was 'necessary'. And not just a splurge. Not just, "yeah I did it as a lifestyle thing." So for all of these reasons and more, it is far from cut and dried. It's not as simple as people in this thread are saying.