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I don't know if it's true for others but I could have skipped high school and college and I would have missed absolutely nothing in terms of knowledge acquired

I don't know if it's true for others but I could have skipped high school and college and I would have missed absolutely nothing in terms of knowledge acquired during those years. I don't think my sentiments deviate too much from the norm. Knowledge these days is much more decentralized and more readily available and if you want to learn something then you don't really need a classroom or a professor to do it. My suspicion is that more and more students are actually pursuing their real passions simply because it is more accessible and consequently they are spending less time on boring class material but are just going through the motions to get a piece of paper.

yesimahuman 16y ago
Well I certainly can't say the same. I don't know about you but I find it very, very hard to actually learn something (rather than read about it once on Wikipedia) that isn't programming related, computer related or job related, unless I'm forced to sit down and study it every week (as in school).
- greenlblue 16y ago
  My point exactly. It just seems backwards to force feed people information if they are not motivated to actually learn it so it shouldn't be surprising that people are studying less now that they have ways to pursue other activities. There is no way you are going to get anything meaningful out of something if the only motivator is punishment in the form of a lower GPA. On the other hand, if you are actually interested in learning something because you want to learn it then the knowledge you gain automatically spills over into other areas and your knowledge grows organically and not according to some template designed by a committee.
  - yesimahuman 16y ago
    I don't agree. I don't think school is punishment. GPAs are just an unfortunate element of the education system. I learned so many things in college that I didn't want to learn at first. But I'm glad they sat me down and made me learn it because I realize how ignorant I was. IMO, the biggest problem facing the world right now is ignorance. What do I offer society by only learning about my interests (in my case, software development)? In the future, what will I offer young people and my children, if I only have knowledge of my niche?
    - greenlblue 16y ago
      What do artists offer to the world by only pursuing their passion? Plenty. I once met a sculptor that did nothing except sculpt stone, granite, and marble statues since the age of 16. His works can be seen throughout middle asia and armenia and he was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. The same can not be said for the thousands of college students that are being spoon fed anti-ignorance.
dagw 16y ago
What I really gained from high school was not so much learning what I wanted to learn, but learning a bunch of things that I, a priori, didn't want to learn. I was a math and science geek as a kid, and given the choice I would have studied only that in high school. Fortunately for me I wasn't given that choice and was also made to study stuff like literature, which has greatly enriched my life and widened my horizons. High school wasn't (and shouldn't be) so much about learning you favorite subject as opening your eyes to other areas of knowledge outside your passion, so that when you do choose your specialization you do so with a better knowledge as to what is out there.
- greenlblue 16y ago
  I am a math person as well but my love of literature and social sciences in general is not because I was forced to learn about them in high school or college. In fact I started to enjoy literature, psychology, philosophy and social science when I was left to my own devices and wasn't forced to write a paper right after I had finished reading something. The pace in science courses was almost always to slow and the pace in social science classes was almost always too fast. Universities were designed as cookie cutters and they are now starting to see the effects of that model.

yesimahuman 16y ago

Well I certainly can't say the same. I don't know about you but I find it very, very hard to actually learn something (rather than read about it once on Wikipedia) that isn't programming related, computer related or job related, unless I'm forced to sit down and study it every week (as in school).

greenlblue 16y ago
My point exactly. It just seems backwards to force feed people information if they are not motivated to actually learn it so it shouldn't be surprising that people are studying less now that they have ways to pursue other activities. There is no way you are going to get anything meaningful out of something if the only motivator is punishment in the form of a lower GPA. On the other hand, if you are actually interested in learning something because you want to learn it then the knowledge you gain automatically spills over into other areas and your knowledge grows organically and not according to some template designed by a committee.
- yesimahuman 16y ago
  I don't agree. I don't think school is punishment. GPAs are just an unfortunate element of the education system. I learned so many things in college that I didn't want to learn at first. But I'm glad they sat me down and made me learn it because I realize how ignorant I was. IMO, the biggest problem facing the world right now is ignorance. What do I offer society by only learning about my interests (in my case, software development)? In the future, what will I offer young people and my children, if I only have knowledge of my niche?
  - greenlblue 16y ago
    What do artists offer to the world by only pursuing their passion? Plenty. I once met a sculptor that did nothing except sculpt stone, granite, and marble statues since the age of 16. His works can be seen throughout middle asia and armenia and he was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. The same can not be said for the thousands of college students that are being spoon fed anti-ignorance.

dagw 16y ago

What I really gained from high school was not so much learning what I wanted to learn, but learning a bunch of things that I, a priori, didn't want to learn. I was a math and science geek as a kid, and given the choice I would have studied only that in high school. Fortunately for me I wasn't given that choice and was also made to study stuff like literature, which has greatly enriched my life and widened my horizons. High school wasn't (and shouldn't be) so much about learning you favorite subject as opening your eyes to other areas of knowledge outside your passion, so that when you do choose your specialization you do so with a better knowledge as to what is out there.

greenlblue 16y ago
I am a math person as well but my love of literature and social sciences in general is not because I was forced to learn about them in high school or college. In fact I started to enjoy literature, psychology, philosophy and social science when I was left to my own devices and wasn't forced to write a paper right after I had finished reading something. The pace in science courses was almost always to slow and the pace in social science classes was almost always too fast. Universities were designed as cookie cutters and they are now starting to see the effects of that model.