4 ms·

Suggesting that students can't milk their prestigious degree is just false. It is a fact that you can, and it is stated as supporting the author's argument. Be

Suggesting that students can't milk their prestigious degree is just false. It is a fact that you can, and it is stated as supporting the author's argument. Being a student at Stanford (or anywhere else) doesn't obligate one to 'great pursuits'. This is just evangelical nonsense trying to keep the prestige of the school high. It also sets up a false narrative that an individual's choices are the main factor of one's success. I think there is value in looking at recognizing that school isn't an end in itself, but this sort of preachy message is too much. Here's some better advice: Do what you want, ignore people telling you the 'right way'.

throwaway4220 3y ago
Context: I didn’t go to an Ivy League school and I was rejected by Stanford undergrad. i think this is not true. Stanford or any Ivy League essentially guarantees you get a good 9-5 job
- robwwilliams 3y ago
  And perhaps a wasted life too. Stanford does much more training than educating—much of “education” at all levels is just mind-numbing training. When we focus on the metrics of successful employment we risk losing track of what matters more.
  - gorjusborg 3y ago
    > And perhaps a wasted life too. I don't disagree with you completely, but I do disagree slightly. The biggest part of what bugs me about the article is the assumption it makes implicitly that there is some external arbiter of what is good and bad. The only person whose opinion of whether a life is wasted that actually matters is the person living it. We can hold opinions on whether another person's life is wasted, but it doesn't matter. We don't get to decide that. If they find joy in something I would hate, they should do it. My opinion doesn't matter. That's the basis of why I think the article misses the mark. There is no right way or wrong way to 'use your education'. Each person gets to decide how to do their thing, and to decide whether they are succeeding or not. Success to me might look like failure to you (we may be measuring different things with different value systems).
robwwilliams 3y ago
And listen to Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address of 2005. I know he would have endorsed the critique above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM

throwaway4220 3y ago

Context: I didn’t go to an Ivy League school and I was rejected by Stanford undergrad. i think this is not true. Stanford or any Ivy League essentially guarantees you get a good 9-5 job

robwwilliams 3y ago
And perhaps a wasted life too. Stanford does much more training than educating—much of “education” at all levels is just mind-numbing training. When we focus on the metrics of successful employment we risk losing track of what matters more.
- gorjusborg 3y ago
  > And perhaps a wasted life too. I don't disagree with you completely, but I do disagree slightly. The biggest part of what bugs me about the article is the assumption it makes implicitly that there is some external arbiter of what is good and bad. The only person whose opinion of whether a life is wasted that actually matters is the person living it. We can hold opinions on whether another person's life is wasted, but it doesn't matter. We don't get to decide that. If they find joy in something I would hate, they should do it. My opinion doesn't matter. That's the basis of why I think the article misses the mark. There is no right way or wrong way to 'use your education'. Each person gets to decide how to do their thing, and to decide whether they are succeeding or not. Success to me might look like failure to you (we may be measuring different things with different value systems).

robwwilliams 3y ago

And listen to Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address of 2005. I know he would have endorsed the critique above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM