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So let's strip education of its value in learning things (replaced by Lambda or MOOCs) and its value in teaching the various ethics (I don't know what replaces

So let's strip education of its value in learning things (replaced by Lambda or MOOCs) and its value in teaching the various ethics (I don't know what replaces that). YC is not so much unbundling the Ivy league cartel as much as it is competing with it. Even though YC has a better track record in expanding its student base (in response to demand) compared to universities, it's still an elite institution creating a zero-sum game of vetting the "future leaders". The monetary incentive is not really "negative", as it still costs for people to move to SF for YC - and it raises the prices for everyone there. I'd say both universities and YC have to be unbundled/disrupted. Presumably by some publicly traded entities whose profit depends on the productivity of the people they educate or vet (a publicly traded lambda or YC with research divisions etc). Then the public can invest on entities that benefit the overall productivity of their society instead of the ego of some academics. Or probably a combination of both Lambda & YC: Education should be free, or even be paid. After all , it IS work. Incubators should be competing to attract the best candidates to educate.

barry-cotter 7y ago
> its value in teaching the various ethics (I don't know what replaces that). There’s no need to replace that. Teaching people about ethics doesn’t make them more ethical[1], and people who enjoyed discussing it continued through the end of their worlds multiple times, whether the Greeks, Romans (Augustine), Persians or anyone else who saw the world they believed in died. YC isn’t in a zero sum game. They’ll certify anyone they think is awesome as awesome. Harvard will only certify a maximum number in the matriculating class, and they certainly won’t deliberately create competitors in that space like YC did with Pioneer. YC does its very best to disrupt itself. It does pay those it’s educating and there are technically competitors to it as an accelerator. [1] https://aeon.co/essays/how-often-do-ethics-professors-call-their-mothers https://aeon.co/essays/how-often-do-ethics-professors-call-t... https://faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzPapers/EthicalEthicists-150715.pdf https://faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzPapers/EthicalEthic...
- grawprog 7y ago
  >Teaching people about ethics doesn’t make them more ethical[1], Anecdotally, I can agree with this. Ethics class seemed to be more about learning how ethics are vague and how they can be used to 'ethically' justify even atrocious things. I really disliked my ethics class. Most of my classmates didn't like it either. We actually ended up getting into a big argument with the teacher once over something that ended with her just screaming at us all to shut up, told us we were all wrong then just made us read for the rest of class and wouldnt teach any more that class.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    Took a class, big fun Modern ethics 101. First day learned why Ethics really don't apply. - Steve Taylor
- buboard 7y ago
  Apart from ethics classes, i think there is value in associating with other students and educators who uphold certain academic and professional ethics. It formulates a certain common mindset among students who may come from very disparate backgrounds (I'm not talking about the Ivies - those students usually come from similar backgrounds). You may also learn a lot from anecdotes that are not found in books or online lectures (e.g. in Medical school). I don't know how this is replicated in online schools, but i think it's an important part of education.
tlb 7y ago
> a zero-sum game of vetting the "future leaders" Vetting future leaders isn't zero-sum! To convince yourself, consider some societies that put hereditary aristocrats in charge of everything. Or thugs in charge. Or sincere makers. The sums are very different.

barry-cotter 7y ago

> its value in teaching the various ethics (I don't know what replaces that). There’s no need to replace that. Teaching people about ethics doesn’t make them more ethical[1], and people who enjoyed discussing it continued through the end of their worlds multiple times, whether the Greeks, Romans (Augustine), Persians or anyone else who saw the world they believed in died. YC isn’t in a zero sum game. They’ll certify anyone they think is awesome as awesome. Harvard will only certify a maximum number in the matriculating class, and they certainly won’t deliberately create competitors in that space like YC did with Pioneer. YC does its very best to disrupt itself. It does pay those it’s educating and there are technically competitors to it as an accelerator. [1] https://aeon.co/essays/how-often-do-ethics-professors-call-their-mothers https://aeon.co/essays/how-often-do-ethics-professors-call-t... https://faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzPapers/EthicalEthicists-150715.pdf https://faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzPapers/EthicalEthic...

grawprog 7y ago
>Teaching people about ethics doesn’t make them more ethical[1], Anecdotally, I can agree with this. Ethics class seemed to be more about learning how ethics are vague and how they can be used to 'ethically' justify even atrocious things. I really disliked my ethics class. Most of my classmates didn't like it either. We actually ended up getting into a big argument with the teacher once over something that ended with her just screaming at us all to shut up, told us we were all wrong then just made us read for the rest of class and wouldnt teach any more that class.
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  Took a class, big fun Modern ethics 101. First day learned why Ethics really don't apply. - Steve Taylor
buboard 7y ago
Apart from ethics classes, i think there is value in associating with other students and educators who uphold certain academic and professional ethics. It formulates a certain common mindset among students who may come from very disparate backgrounds (I'm not talking about the Ivies - those students usually come from similar backgrounds). You may also learn a lot from anecdotes that are not found in books or online lectures (e.g. in Medical school). I don't know how this is replicated in online schools, but i think it's an important part of education.

tlb 7y ago

> a zero-sum game of vetting the "future leaders" Vetting future leaders isn't zero-sum! To convince yourself, consider some societies that put hereditary aristocrats in charge of everything. Or thugs in charge. Or sincere makers. The sums are very different.