Throughout highschool I was told by many adults that the internet wasn't an "accurate source for information" and "don't believe what you read online" etc. I ob

Throughout highschool I was told by many adults that the internet wasn't an "accurate source for information" and "don't believe what you read online" etc. I obviously ignored them. I was also told multiple times by my guidance counselor in highschool that Software Engineers needed to be very good at math and that I would never succeed in that field and I should choose something more realistic. I also ignored her. I'm now a SWE at a FAANG company. I've helped scale multiple start ups (multiple of which are successful and one of which was just acquired). Society is set up in such a way that people are trained to: 1. Respect authority figures 2. Follow what your parents tell you to do 3. Your education is the most important thing in your life (between 10 and 30 yo) All of these things lead to situations where people are more than willing to take out massive loans because everyone in their life tells them "it will be ok!" and "don't think about the money right now, it's about the experience" which is one of the most disgusting ideas that I think is perpetuated. Basically when your parents, your teachers, your politicians, your peers, etc are doing something it's hard to think "that's a bad idea".