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In a properly run society higher education would be very cheap and its utility would not be measured solely on whether or not degrees are directly used in emplo

by czgov 1mo ago

In a properly run society higher education would be very cheap and its utility would not be measured solely on whether or not degrees are directly used in employment.

toomuchtodo 1mo ago
I hope to exist in such a society one day, but that is not what we live in today, and it will take an unknown amount of time into the future for that to change. Until change occurs, the best we can do is provide educational resources that are free for consumption until we're willing to properly implement efficient, universal higher education delivery. Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseware, Yale|Harvard open courses, etc. You won't get the credential, but you'll have the knowledge, if you want it, and mostly for free. "There's no speed limit." as a wise young man taught me once. Does the credential matter if there is robust evidence that it isn't necessary for the jobs folks are working? Or is having the knowledge sufficient as success criteria? Tangentially, this is likely a call for more leisure time (4 day work week, broadly speaking), but that will take time for politics and structural demographic compression to achieve. There’s no speed limit (2009) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761013 - March 2012 (194 comments) https://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses/ https://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses/ https://ocw.mit.edu/ https://ocw.mit.edu/ https://oyc.yale.edu/ https://oyc.yale.edu/ https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free
scld 1mo ago
What would it be measured in?
- nirse 1mo ago
  Perhaps education has an intrinsic value to society that does not need to be measured?
  - g8oz 1mo ago
    For instance: developing citizens who demonstrate critical thinking, responsibility, organization, independence, collaboration, initiative and self-regulation. Not all of these are easily measurable, but all contribute to a prosperous and free society.
    - robocat 1mo ago
      Yet every non-uni worker seems to develop those skills without going to university. It would be interesting to measure. Critical thinking in particular doesn't seem to be taught. I personally believe none of those skills were taught during my own engineering degree. For me it was a lot of simple regurgitation against closed ended test questions. In hindsight mostly a fucking waste of time: a piece of paper to get a job.
- czgov 1mo ago
  That’s what the Medici asked Leonardo.

by czgov 1mo ago

In a properly run society higher education would be very cheap and its utility would not be measured solely on whether or not degrees are directly used in employment.

toomuchtodo 1mo ago

I hope to exist in such a society one day, but that is not what we live in today, and it will take an unknown amount of time into the future for that to change. Until change occurs, the best we can do is provide educational resources that are free for consumption until we're willing to properly implement efficient, universal higher education delivery. Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseware, Yale|Harvard open courses, etc. You won't get the credential, but you'll have the knowledge, if you want it, and mostly for free. "There's no speed limit." as a wise young man taught me once. Does the credential matter if there is robust evidence that it isn't necessary for the jobs folks are working? Or is having the knowledge sufficient as success criteria? Tangentially, this is likely a call for more leisure time (4 day work week, broadly speaking), but that will take time for politics and structural demographic compression to achieve. There’s no speed limit (2009) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761013 - March 2012 (194 comments) https://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses/ https://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses/ https://ocw.mit.edu/ https://ocw.mit.edu/ https://oyc.yale.edu/ https://oyc.yale.edu/ https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free

scld 1mo ago

What would it be measured in?

nirse 1mo ago
Perhaps education has an intrinsic value to society that does not need to be measured?
- g8oz 1mo ago
  For instance: developing citizens who demonstrate critical thinking, responsibility, organization, independence, collaboration, initiative and self-regulation. Not all of these are easily measurable, but all contribute to a prosperous and free society.
  - robocat 1mo ago
    Yet every non-uni worker seems to develop those skills without going to university. It would be interesting to measure. Critical thinking in particular doesn't seem to be taught. I personally believe none of those skills were taught during my own engineering degree. For me it was a lot of simple regurgitation against closed ended test questions. In hindsight mostly a fucking waste of time: a piece of paper to get a job.
czgov 1mo ago
That’s what the Medici asked Leonardo.