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For someone who can’t distinguish between schooling and education to accuse others of anti-intellectualism is a bit rich. To read an article in which the author

For someone who can’t distinguish between schooling and education to accuse others of anti-intellectualism is a bit rich. To read an article in which the author engaged with ideas and call him an anti-intellectual is practically self refuting. People who don’t care about ideas don’t think about them. They certainly don’t write about them. The idea we live in an intellectually poor culture is wildly at odds with the facts. Most people don’t care about ideas, they never did. But now those who do can learn about them with greater ease than ever before, discuss them with more people and reach more people if they have anything to say. You’re dismissing Byrne’s essay without being familiar with the economics literature on signaling in education and assuming that education can only happen in a university. Other people will learn about the signaling model of education[1] because of this. There’s an explosion of educational content on Youtube, free ebooks aplenty, edX, Coursera, the SEP. Most people don’t care but for those who do care about ideas this is probably the best time to be alive ever. [1] https://www.econlib.org/archives/2015/04/educational_sig_1.html https://www.econlib.org/archives/2015/04/educational_sig_1.h... https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174655/the-case-against-education https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174655/th...

keiferski 7y ago
I don’t know how the availability of educational content online has anything to do what I said. And nowhere did I say that the only place one can get an education is within an institution. Your comment is a pretty big strawman. Educational institutions in the United States have become customer-focused corporations in all but name. While it’s nice that information is available for personal use via the Internet (although frankly most of it has already been available in public libraries for the last century), that’s a separate point. The discussion is about educational institutions, not the ability of one to self-educate. The point is: if you’re doing an economic analysis on the value of an education, you’ve already lost. Institutions which once were dedicated to timeless academic values are now mostly about making a buck. If you went to university a century ago, it was probably to pursue an academic career. If you go now, it’s probably to get a better job. The fact that you as an individual can watch a YouTube course doesn’t change the fact that influential institutions have a dramatic effect on popular culture, society and politics, and ergo graduates of those institutions will shape society.

keiferski 7y ago

I don’t know how the availability of educational content online has anything to do what I said. And nowhere did I say that the only place one can get an education is within an institution. Your comment is a pretty big strawman. Educational institutions in the United States have become customer-focused corporations in all but name. While it’s nice that information is available for personal use via the Internet (although frankly most of it has already been available in public libraries for the last century), that’s a separate point. The discussion is about educational institutions, not the ability of one to self-educate. The point is: if you’re doing an economic analysis on the value of an education, you’ve already lost. Institutions which once were dedicated to timeless academic values are now mostly about making a buck. If you went to university a century ago, it was probably to pursue an academic career. If you go now, it’s probably to get a better job. The fact that you as an individual can watch a YouTube course doesn’t change the fact that influential institutions have a dramatic effect on popular culture, society and politics, and ergo graduates of those institutions will shape society.