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They're not wrong to worry about that, it's a rough world out there and getting a good job is vastly more important to most people than "human development". Pa

They're not wrong to worry about that, it's a rough world out there and getting a good job is vastly more important to most people than "human development". Parents don't send their kids to college to become better people, they do it to make sure they have a skill that can lead to a career so they can survive on their own. Only the rich have the luxury of being concerned about something other than a job.

convolvatron 9y ago
some people get to work in a creative job (I think being successful in STEM is more creative than people generally account for). in which case all that human development is pretty important.
oDot 9y ago
They are wrong to worry about that. The world is dynamic, and human development, the way I interpret it, will help the students deal with the world they go out to. Better people will deal with what comes their way. Maybe today it's a job, but tomorrow it'll be something else. Students who were only thought how to build software, will have a hard time dealing with life when robots starts building software instead of them. First have better people, then let better people be better and bring themselves to prosperity.
- gnaritas 9y ago
  Again, all easy things to worry about when you're not trying to just survive as most people are. Most people are worried about far more practical things that being "better people".
- nine_k 9y ago
  If "being better" means better communication, better critical thinking, better learning skills, better time management skills, better understanding of oneself — yes, please! These are the universal skills important most everywhere. These are also skills that are hard to teach as a specific subject; they mostly come with experience in some other, more practical subject. Some of these, like critical thinking, can go against the modern prevailing religion (political correctness), which makes teaching them harder still.
banach 9y ago
On the contrary. The less you have, the more you stand to benefit from appreciating other things than possessions.
- KekDemaga 9y ago
  That can be obtained in a much more cost effective manner.
- bpodgursky 9y ago
  Yes, I'm sure a generation trying to save for a house under burden of student loans appreciates your sage bullshit advice. Must really appreciate the lack of affordable health care and never being able to afford a family. But at least you can appreciate it!
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - banach 9y ago
    Philosophies of life like Buddhism and Stoicism came about in times that were much less comfy than even the sad reality we have to endure. I am not saying people shouldn't demand things of society (quite the opposite, I think the level of organizing among the poor is the root of many of the issues we are seeing today), but I am saying that they can benefit from separating their happiness from the fulfillment of those demands.
- gnaritas 9y ago
  No one said anything about possessions, you're projecting. We're talking about survival here, not consumerism.
  - jstewartmobile 9y ago
    That's probably a little over-dramatic. In the west, survival is a pretty low bar. That, and "human development" in terms of an actual broad education will probably get you further in the long run than circling up around the latest job credential. I remember reading somewhere about how learning certain instruments makes changes to the brain's surface that are large enough to see with the naked eye. From many accounts, playing the violin was no small part of Einstein's life and research. Who knows if he'd have been as productive if he'd just been all-physics-all-the-time? It could have served as a sort of "backpropagation" to his theoretical work. From my own experience, many of these seemingly unrelated intellectual pursuits open so many doors, and from this article it isn't just my own experience: https://medium.com/personal-growth/einsteins-violin-the-hidden-connections-between-scientific-breakthroughs-and-art-f67a67ce8240 https://medium.com/personal-growth/einsteins-violin-the-hidd...
mmirate 9y ago
> Parents don't send their kids to college to become better people, they do it to make sure they have a skill that can lead to a career so they can survive on their own. That's correct, yes, but it's not the whole story. (Some of) us students hold the same opinions, regardless of whether or not our parents do. Indeed, I would gladly shed any of the "good person" parts of my personality, if doing so gave me better aptitude in the field that I'm studying. (Sadly, genetic engineering is still a pipe dream, and won't work on already-living humans anyway.)
fasquoika 9y ago
I think the real issue here is that our schools are somewhere between liberal arts and vocational, so they do a pretty shitty job at both
ThomPete 9y ago
But the jobs to come have much less to do with your education as they will more and be be about talent and uniqueness, the exact opposite of what education does to people. There is a world of difference between being educated and getting an education.

convolvatron 9y ago

some people get to work in a creative job (I think being successful in STEM is more creative than people generally account for). in which case all that human development is pretty important.

oDot 9y ago

They are wrong to worry about that. The world is dynamic, and human development, the way I interpret it, will help the students deal with the world they go out to. Better people will deal with what comes their way. Maybe today it's a job, but tomorrow it'll be something else. Students who were only thought how to build software, will have a hard time dealing with life when robots starts building software instead of them. First have better people, then let better people be better and bring themselves to prosperity.

gnaritas 9y ago
Again, all easy things to worry about when you're not trying to just survive as most people are. Most people are worried about far more practical things that being "better people".
nine_k 9y ago
If "being better" means better communication, better critical thinking, better learning skills, better time management skills, better understanding of oneself — yes, please! These are the universal skills important most everywhere. These are also skills that are hard to teach as a specific subject; they mostly come with experience in some other, more practical subject. Some of these, like critical thinking, can go against the modern prevailing religion (political correctness), which makes teaching them harder still.

banach 9y ago

On the contrary. The less you have, the more you stand to benefit from appreciating other things than possessions.

KekDemaga 9y ago
That can be obtained in a much more cost effective manner.
bpodgursky 9y ago
Yes, I'm sure a generation trying to save for a house under burden of student loans appreciates your sage bullshit advice. Must really appreciate the lack of affordable health care and never being able to afford a family. But at least you can appreciate it!
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- banach 9y ago
  Philosophies of life like Buddhism and Stoicism came about in times that were much less comfy than even the sad reality we have to endure. I am not saying people shouldn't demand things of society (quite the opposite, I think the level of organizing among the poor is the root of many of the issues we are seeing today), but I am saying that they can benefit from separating their happiness from the fulfillment of those demands.
gnaritas 9y ago
No one said anything about possessions, you're projecting. We're talking about survival here, not consumerism.
- jstewartmobile 9y ago
  That's probably a little over-dramatic. In the west, survival is a pretty low bar. That, and "human development" in terms of an actual broad education will probably get you further in the long run than circling up around the latest job credential. I remember reading somewhere about how learning certain instruments makes changes to the brain's surface that are large enough to see with the naked eye. From many accounts, playing the violin was no small part of Einstein's life and research. Who knows if he'd have been as productive if he'd just been all-physics-all-the-time? It could have served as a sort of "backpropagation" to his theoretical work. From my own experience, many of these seemingly unrelated intellectual pursuits open so many doors, and from this article it isn't just my own experience: https://medium.com/personal-growth/einsteins-violin-the-hidden-connections-between-scientific-breakthroughs-and-art-f67a67ce8240 https://medium.com/personal-growth/einsteins-violin-the-hidd...

mmirate 9y ago

> Parents don't send their kids to college to become better people, they do it to make sure they have a skill that can lead to a career so they can survive on their own. That's correct, yes, but it's not the whole story. (Some of) us students hold the same opinions, regardless of whether or not our parents do. Indeed, I would gladly shed any of the "good person" parts of my personality, if doing so gave me better aptitude in the field that I'm studying. (Sadly, genetic engineering is still a pipe dream, and won't work on already-living humans anyway.)

fasquoika 9y ago

I think the real issue here is that our schools are somewhere between liberal arts and vocational, so they do a pretty shitty job at both

ThomPete 9y ago

But the jobs to come have much less to do with your education as they will more and be be about talent and uniqueness, the exact opposite of what education does to people. There is a world of difference between being educated and getting an education.