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> Why spend it doing homework and learning nothing and getting in debt? Wait...really? You think that everyone that goes to a four year higher education instit

> Why spend it doing homework and learning nothing and getting in debt? Wait...really? You think that everyone that goes to a four year higher education institution learns nothing? I think I can see why you have a problem with college...

mcny 9y ago
> Wait...really? You think that everyone that goes to a four year higher education institution learns nothing? I think I can see why you have a problem with college... I have a BS in Mathematics. I don't remember any of my abstract algebra, barely remember some real analysis, don't have a clue about complex analysis or pde (actually I am not sure if pde is partial derivative equations or not without actually googling it first which I am avoiding to make a point). I couldn't write a SN1, E1, SN2, E2 from organic one if my life depended on it. Things I do remember? LDL the first L stands for Loser so it is the bad kind. That means HDL is the good kind (don't know the context but I think it is about fat in nutrition). Oh and that we tend to remember strange things like a hippo walking through the campus quad because it gets stored in the hippocampus (which is below the cerebral cortex?) of our brain. I did pretty well in college. Besides my sophomore slump, I was on the Dean's List six out of eight semesters. I was a department tutor who helped others with their studies/background work to prepare for class. I tried to do everything right. And yet, I don't think we retain most of the facts we study in college. I will concede though that it is not easy to learn anything in my "spare time" when you work full-time though. I mean it might be possible if you can leave your work at work but if you're a programmer, you really can't do that. It still gnaws you in the back of your head. (Again, I hope I am in the minority and that most people are able to leave work at work).
- jdhzzz 9y ago
  I've been in industry 40 years and can think of 2 times I directly used what I learned as part of my job. 1. Calculating the temperature distribution across a fiber being heated by air (spoiler: it's uniform). 2. Calculating the annual rate of return from an investment from an Sybase SQL server without resorting to a procedural process, i.e. using only the ln, exp, and sum functions available. The second really goes back to high school math so doesn't count as a reason to go to college.
tdb7893 9y ago
In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. Many people don't end up in what their degree was and also many jobs are learned primarily through job experience. If you think about it most people learn more practical skills in the first year of having a job than in 4 years of college. I think that when people spend such a large chunk of their time and money on something they expect a little more results and he is exaggerating because he is frustrated with it.
- alistairSH 9y ago
  ...only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job... And that's part of the problem with the current anti-college movement (for lack of a better descriptor). Adherents tend to think college is an expensive 4-year job training program. But, it's not about job training. It's about broadening your horizons, learning things you might not otherwise learn, challenging your core beliefs about life and society. If you enter college with the sole goal of exiting with a high-paying job, I would argue you are doing it wrong. Instead, take some time to study things you find interesting. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
  - kthejoker2 9y ago
    I mean, to their point, by your own definition college would be a RIDICULOUSLY expensive 4 year horizon broadening, belief challenging system. Also your idea of college would sound twee and naive to anyone 50 years ago.
    - alistairSH 9y ago
      College wasn't as expensive just a few decades ago. That is definitely a problem. Forgoing an education isn't the solution. As for sounding twee, I don't disagree. College has been viewed as a path to a career for quite some time now. Which is fine, other than that shouldn't be the sole reason for an education. Or the sole focus of a person's early adulthood.

mcny 9y ago

> Wait...really? You think that everyone that goes to a four year higher education institution learns nothing? I think I can see why you have a problem with college... I have a BS in Mathematics. I don't remember any of my abstract algebra, barely remember some real analysis, don't have a clue about complex analysis or pde (actually I am not sure if pde is partial derivative equations or not without actually googling it first which I am avoiding to make a point). I couldn't write a SN1, E1, SN2, E2 from organic one if my life depended on it. Things I do remember? LDL the first L stands for Loser so it is the bad kind. That means HDL is the good kind (don't know the context but I think it is about fat in nutrition). Oh and that we tend to remember strange things like a hippo walking through the campus quad because it gets stored in the hippocampus (which is below the cerebral cortex?) of our brain. I did pretty well in college. Besides my sophomore slump, I was on the Dean's List six out of eight semesters. I was a department tutor who helped others with their studies/background work to prepare for class. I tried to do everything right. And yet, I don't think we retain most of the facts we study in college. I will concede though that it is not easy to learn anything in my "spare time" when you work full-time though. I mean it might be possible if you can leave your work at work but if you're a programmer, you really can't do that. It still gnaws you in the back of your head. (Again, I hope I am in the minority and that most people are able to leave work at work).

jdhzzz 9y ago
I've been in industry 40 years and can think of 2 times I directly used what I learned as part of my job. 1. Calculating the temperature distribution across a fiber being heated by air (spoiler: it's uniform). 2. Calculating the annual rate of return from an investment from an Sybase SQL server without resorting to a procedural process, i.e. using only the ln, exp, and sum functions available. The second really goes back to high school math so doesn't count as a reason to go to college.

tdb7893 9y ago

In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. Many people don't end up in what their degree was and also many jobs are learned primarily through job experience. If you think about it most people learn more practical skills in the first year of having a job than in 4 years of college. I think that when people spend such a large chunk of their time and money on something they expect a little more results and he is exaggerating because he is frustrated with it.

alistairSH 9y ago
...only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job... And that's part of the problem with the current anti-college movement (for lack of a better descriptor). Adherents tend to think college is an expensive 4-year job training program. But, it's not about job training. It's about broadening your horizons, learning things you might not otherwise learn, challenging your core beliefs about life and society. If you enter college with the sole goal of exiting with a high-paying job, I would argue you are doing it wrong. Instead, take some time to study things you find interesting. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
- kthejoker2 9y ago
  I mean, to their point, by your own definition college would be a RIDICULOUSLY expensive 4 year horizon broadening, belief challenging system. Also your idea of college would sound twee and naive to anyone 50 years ago.
  - alistairSH 9y ago
    College wasn't as expensive just a few decades ago. That is definitely a problem. Forgoing an education isn't the solution. As for sounding twee, I don't disagree. College has been viewed as a path to a career for quite some time now. Which is fine, other than that shouldn't be the sole reason for an education. Or the sole focus of a person's early adulthood.