3 ms·

Depends on what you think of the value of school is. Given the distribution of outcomes and skills, the effect of a degree for the vast majority in the long tai

Depends on what you think of the value of school is. Given the distribution of outcomes and skills, the effect of a degree for the vast majority in the long tail of graduates is just tribal affiliation with the people who achieve in the upper percentiles. For most people, simply paying for the credential without attending classes would deliver most of the value. Traditionally, this was known as "purchasing a commission," (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_of_commissions_in_the_British_Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_of_commissions_in_the...), and today we do the same thing with student debt. Online classes may be a forcing function for the discussion of how to price education, but the question itself has been the elephant in the room for decades.

harias 6y ago
Called signalling in economics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)
- motohagiography 6y ago
  I'd argue signalling is the effect, where the tribal initiation is the mechanism and purchasing a commission is the example precedent, but we're certainly in the same realm of ideas.
- stainforth 6y ago
  Interesting, can this be merged in some way with the concept of signs in postmodernism a la Baudrillard? It would be an interesting marriage
criddell 6y ago
What are you talking about when looking at the distribution of outcomes? What are the outcomes? The value of school for me was (in no particular order) learning how to learn, how to tackle large projects with difficult questions, how to work with other people, how to manage my time doing all of that, building a network of both people in my area and outside of my area, smoothly transitioning from childhood to adulthood, having freedom to explore and discover the things that truly interested me, and having a really good time doing all of that. A huge part of the value of school came from staying on-campus in student dorms my first two years. Living with a large group of people expanded and enriched my social life tremendously. I loved being so close to the school and libraries and all the facilities. Its hard to know for sure but the social skills I gained are probably as valuable as the computer science education in creating the life I have now.
- motohagiography 6y ago
  By distribution of outcomes I mean a Pareto distribution where a few people who graduated from a school will become presidents, win Nobel prizes, develop new techniques for disease treatment and surgery, write things that enlighten, or build something that changes the lives of many people, but the vast majority (the long tail) will not.

harias 6y ago

Called signalling in economics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)

motohagiography 6y ago
I'd argue signalling is the effect, where the tribal initiation is the mechanism and purchasing a commission is the example precedent, but we're certainly in the same realm of ideas.
stainforth 6y ago
Interesting, can this be merged in some way with the concept of signs in postmodernism a la Baudrillard? It would be an interesting marriage

criddell 6y ago

What are you talking about when looking at the distribution of outcomes? What are the outcomes? The value of school for me was (in no particular order) learning how to learn, how to tackle large projects with difficult questions, how to work with other people, how to manage my time doing all of that, building a network of both people in my area and outside of my area, smoothly transitioning from childhood to adulthood, having freedom to explore and discover the things that truly interested me, and having a really good time doing all of that. A huge part of the value of school came from staying on-campus in student dorms my first two years. Living with a large group of people expanded and enriched my social life tremendously. I loved being so close to the school and libraries and all the facilities. Its hard to know for sure but the social skills I gained are probably as valuable as the computer science education in creating the life I have now.

motohagiography 6y ago
By distribution of outcomes I mean a Pareto distribution where a few people who graduated from a school will become presidents, win Nobel prizes, develop new techniques for disease treatment and surgery, write things that enlighten, or build something that changes the lives of many people, but the vast majority (the long tail) will not.