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American universities have become extravagant nurseries for overgrown babies, both the students and the staff. Some ancient professors (ie: pre 2013) are probab

American universities have become extravagant nurseries for overgrown babies, both the students and the staff. Some ancient professors (ie: pre 2013) are probably still ok, but otherwise the whole thing has become nothing but a bunch of crybabies and whiners pointing at each other and screeching. University used to be a signal; get in, graduate, and maybe you've got something more to you than the average person. Now, it's an anti-signal: if you actually jumped through the hoops to get in, and went into debt to indoctrinate yourself, not to mention actively harm your ability to function in the real world, then sane employers are going to forgo you.

ModernMech 3y ago
We can all point to extravagances in industries we don't like, and then declare them playgrounds for overgrown babies. I remember when I was in undergrad walking past the Google offices in Pittsburgh. There was a bridge above them where you could look down into the window. I didn't really know about Google at the time, but my eyes were caught by the bean bags, foosball table, ping pong table, the giant wall of candy, and of course the bright primary colors. I think there was a finger painting station back there too, but I can't be sure. For the longest time I had thought it was a daycare but I was confused as to why there were never any children. Turns out it was an office for Google engineers! So it's pretty rich to hear about how Universities are nurseries from a website dedicated to the tech industry. Especially when universities are attended by 18-21 year olds who still have developing frontal lobes. The tech industry is mostly (ostensibly) grown ass men, so what's their excuse for the bean bags and candy walls?
roncesvalles 3y ago
A bit orthogonal but I very much consider academic study beyond undergraduate to be an anti-signal. Not so much at an institution like Stanford, where doing a PhD still means something; but very quickly past the sparse handful of top tier universities, a PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  > PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce. People with Ph.D.s have the highest employment rate of any degree, so I'm not sure how you can hold this opinion. Maybe you're just a little biased against Ph.D.s? https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2022/data-on-display/education-pays.htm https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2022/data-on-display/educa...
  - roncesvalles 3y ago
    It would be more accurate to compare doctoral degree attainers with other degree attainers holding IQ constant, and perhaps age as well. Everyone gets a job eventually.
    - ModernMech 3y ago
      Okay, but what kind of evidence/analysis did you collect before arriving at the conclusion that a "PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce"? Because data show they are able to integrate into the workforce just fine.

ModernMech 3y ago

We can all point to extravagances in industries we don't like, and then declare them playgrounds for overgrown babies. I remember when I was in undergrad walking past the Google offices in Pittsburgh. There was a bridge above them where you could look down into the window. I didn't really know about Google at the time, but my eyes were caught by the bean bags, foosball table, ping pong table, the giant wall of candy, and of course the bright primary colors. I think there was a finger painting station back there too, but I can't be sure. For the longest time I had thought it was a daycare but I was confused as to why there were never any children. Turns out it was an office for Google engineers! So it's pretty rich to hear about how Universities are nurseries from a website dedicated to the tech industry. Especially when universities are attended by 18-21 year olds who still have developing frontal lobes. The tech industry is mostly (ostensibly) grown ass men, so what's their excuse for the bean bags and candy walls?

roncesvalles 3y ago

A bit orthogonal but I very much consider academic study beyond undergraduate to be an anti-signal. Not so much at an institution like Stanford, where doing a PhD still means something; but very quickly past the sparse handful of top tier universities, a PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce.

ModernMech 3y ago
> PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce. People with Ph.D.s have the highest employment rate of any degree, so I'm not sure how you can hold this opinion. Maybe you're just a little biased against Ph.D.s? https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2022/data-on-display/education-pays.htm https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2022/data-on-display/educa...
- roncesvalles 3y ago
  It would be more accurate to compare doctoral degree attainers with other degree attainers holding IQ constant, and perhaps age as well. Everyone gets a job eventually.
  - ModernMech 3y ago
    Okay, but what kind of evidence/analysis did you collect before arriving at the conclusion that a "PhD is little more than a UBI program for people unable to integrate into the workforce"? Because data show they are able to integrate into the workforce just fine.