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This ties in nicely with the lecture series recently on Death. The Onion in good form, blending humor and a question that more and more of us are asking: reall

This ties in nicely with the lecture series recently on Death. The Onion in good form, blending humor and a question that more and more of us are asking: really, what is the point of school? A question which has been asked a lot on HN recently, and I hope to see more answers in the near future that are not "eh, school is necessary". I am so grateful that I started taking part time jobs as early as the 6th grade, after school at INTERESTING places. A patent law office, SETI (really, I was amazingly lucky), SLAC, several software companies. Without those experiences, I am not sure I would have ever realized that work and fun can be synonymous. School certainly didn't teach that idea.

ardit33 18y ago
I would never recomend anybody not going to school. It is a great learning experience, and I am not saying academically only. Also socially. Really, there is nothing prohibiting you on working on a startup idea during summer time, and if it goes well, you can run with it. 3 months is a lot of time, and time is a great luxury when you are working full time. And by the time you reach 21-22 your ideas will have changed. What I wouldn't recomend, is somebody paying too much for school, and ending up in debt up to their eyeballs when they get out. Forcing them to work full time, instead on an idea. But even financially, you could go to community college for the first two years, get grants, scholarships, some debt, attend good state school (that tend to be cheaper). There is a lot of help out there, you just have to seek it. And if you question the value of school, then you either are going to the wrong school (too exepensive, too party type), or not taking the right kind of classes (ie. bullshit majors such as communication, or businness....). when you start working, you have contact with the same people, doing the same things, for months or years, and not exposed to different point of views, or people that you would be exposed in school.
- delackner 18y ago
  I was actually thinking just about K-12 education. I got a lot of rewarding stuff out of college. I think most kids would turn out just fine if they were given much less structured enjoyable activities while growing up.

ardit33 18y ago

I would never recomend anybody not going to school. It is a great learning experience, and I am not saying academically only. Also socially. Really, there is nothing prohibiting you on working on a startup idea during summer time, and if it goes well, you can run with it. 3 months is a lot of time, and time is a great luxury when you are working full time. And by the time you reach 21-22 your ideas will have changed. What I wouldn't recomend, is somebody paying too much for school, and ending up in debt up to their eyeballs when they get out. Forcing them to work full time, instead on an idea. But even financially, you could go to community college for the first two years, get grants, scholarships, some debt, attend good state school (that tend to be cheaper). There is a lot of help out there, you just have to seek it. And if you question the value of school, then you either are going to the wrong school (too exepensive, too party type), or not taking the right kind of classes (ie. bullshit majors such as communication, or businness....). when you start working, you have contact with the same people, doing the same things, for months or years, and not exposed to different point of views, or people that you would be exposed in school.

delackner 18y ago
I was actually thinking just about K-12 education. I got a lot of rewarding stuff out of college. I think most kids would turn out just fine if they were given much less structured enjoyable activities while growing up.