4 ms·

I have taken several of these online courses, and I think we will look back in fifty years and see an inflection point in massively distributing higher educatio

I have taken several of these online courses, and I think we will look back in fifty years and see an inflection point in massively distributing higher education happened in the fall of 2011. The margin of this web page does not contain enough space for me to explain how much I disagree with the general comments expressed here. And I can't even be sure if I learned everything, because nobody graded me. If nobody is grading you (a professor, a tutor, a supervisor, a boss, a customer), how do you know if you education is correct? Really? I mean, really? If I ever think I don't understand something, it's rather easy to turn to someone next to me and try to teach them. Or any number of dozens of tactics to make sure my knowledge map is self-consistent. I'd imagine that needing someone to grade one's work must be one of the most constricting world views there can be. How can you come up with radical new ideas if they have to be graded by some knowledge gate-keeper? What if you are thinking way beyond your "grader's" level?

wtvanhest 14y ago
Radical new ideas are graded by the market. Want a seed round? Your idea will be graded by angels. Want a venture round? Your idea will be graded by VCs. Want some revenue? Graded by users. Want to IPO? Graded by mutual funds analysts. I bet there are lots of people watching videos learning some stuff right now, but not fully learning anything. Is it good? Is it bad? I have no idea, but without tests I think it is really hard to know if you are really learning or just think you are.
- lesterbuck 14y ago
  If I don't breathe, the environment will "grade" me with death. Now, let's expand our view just a wee bit and move up seven levels in Maslow's hierarchy. Do you really think fully actualized people are paying all that much attention to things like markets? Great poets and writers have labored in obscurity, died unknown, only to be discovered a hundred years later. Now consider the unknown numbers of people just as good, still unknown. Did they waste their lives because "the market" told them they were worthless? Galileo was told, rather directly, that "the market" did not value his work, to the point of death threats. Did that in any way devalue his knowledge or understanding?
  - wtvanhest 14y ago
    To be honest, I was never a big fan of the concept of fully actualized people. I always felt like it was perpetrated by those that teach since it fits their lifestyle. Since that is the only part of the pyramid that is interesting to most people, I view the entire pyramid as unnecessary to teach at all. I have no clue what Galileo was truly after, but I would guess it was scientific discovery and the fame and wealth that could possibly come along with it. After all, if he truly didn’t care about fame and wealth and he was only after full actualization he could have just written a bunch of books but never told anyone or published them. Why do great poets and writers labor in obscurity, then be discovered hundreds of years later? I would guess one of two things happen in those cases. 1) they lack people skill necessary to get their work out, 2) their art was not appreciated at the time and is for some reason now appreciated. Since they didn’t benefit from their work, I view them and their ideas as having zero worth after considering that value that is created far in to the future is not worth as much as value created today.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      > Why do great poets and writers labor in obscurity, then be discovered hundreds of years later? There are many scenes in the arts that are far under the radar of both the mainstream and the arts establishments but nonetheless are very real and vibrant. Much of art is an act of discovering the depth of your own perceptions, which is rewarding in itself. Institutions, the conception of the arts in textbooks -- these are all by-products of lives lived. They are the mementos and communications of moments. Real art is in the listener, the viewer, or the creator.
deleted 14y ago
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wtvanhest 14y ago

Radical new ideas are graded by the market. Want a seed round? Your idea will be graded by angels. Want a venture round? Your idea will be graded by VCs. Want some revenue? Graded by users. Want to IPO? Graded by mutual funds analysts. I bet there are lots of people watching videos learning some stuff right now, but not fully learning anything. Is it good? Is it bad? I have no idea, but without tests I think it is really hard to know if you are really learning or just think you are.

lesterbuck 14y ago
If I don't breathe, the environment will "grade" me with death. Now, let's expand our view just a wee bit and move up seven levels in Maslow's hierarchy. Do you really think fully actualized people are paying all that much attention to things like markets? Great poets and writers have labored in obscurity, died unknown, only to be discovered a hundred years later. Now consider the unknown numbers of people just as good, still unknown. Did they waste their lives because "the market" told them they were worthless? Galileo was told, rather directly, that "the market" did not value his work, to the point of death threats. Did that in any way devalue his knowledge or understanding?
- wtvanhest 14y ago
  To be honest, I was never a big fan of the concept of fully actualized people. I always felt like it was perpetrated by those that teach since it fits their lifestyle. Since that is the only part of the pyramid that is interesting to most people, I view the entire pyramid as unnecessary to teach at all. I have no clue what Galileo was truly after, but I would guess it was scientific discovery and the fame and wealth that could possibly come along with it. After all, if he truly didn’t care about fame and wealth and he was only after full actualization he could have just written a bunch of books but never told anyone or published them. Why do great poets and writers labor in obscurity, then be discovered hundreds of years later? I would guess one of two things happen in those cases. 1) they lack people skill necessary to get their work out, 2) their art was not appreciated at the time and is for some reason now appreciated. Since they didn’t benefit from their work, I view them and their ideas as having zero worth after considering that value that is created far in to the future is not worth as much as value created today.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    > Why do great poets and writers labor in obscurity, then be discovered hundreds of years later? There are many scenes in the arts that are far under the radar of both the mainstream and the arts establishments but nonetheless are very real and vibrant. Much of art is an act of discovering the depth of your own perceptions, which is rewarding in itself. Institutions, the conception of the arts in textbooks -- these are all by-products of lives lived. They are the mementos and communications of moments. Real art is in the listener, the viewer, or the creator.

deleted 14y ago

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