5 ms·

Bill Gates is an outlier as are other famous college dropouts.

by rpedela 12y ago

noblethrasher 12y ago
Also, technically not a drop out; he's still on leave.
scrollaway 12y ago
The funny thing about college dropouts: It's rare for a college dropout to become obscenely successful, but conversely it is also not uncommon for someone obscenely successful to be a college dropout. Or heck, it's not even that uncommon for successful people as long as we're not talking about something like lawyers (TV doesn't enter the equation, Suits.). I guess what I'm trying to say is, Bill Gates is an outlier in a heck of a lot more than education. Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" has little to do with formal education and more to do with skills learned later in life. Which implies that being successful at a young age requires those skills to come earlier (which they are less likely to if you spend most of your time in college).
- dllthomas 12y ago
  People who are obscenely successful have clearly found something to do of tremendous value (in whatever sense they are "successful" - I'm not making a separate normative judgment). It isn't surprising that they might drop things of lesser value - and it doesn't mean those things are not still of significant value.
- rpedela 12y ago
  > It's rare for a college dropout to become obscenely successful, but conversely it is also not uncommon for someone obscenely successful to be a college dropout. Reference?
- eli_gottlieb 12y ago
  >Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" has little to do with formal education and more to do with skills learned later in life. Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" currently has little to do with formal education or with skills, but instead has more to do with family money.
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" currently has little to do with formal education or with skills, but instead has more to do with family money. Consider a list of recent, spectacularly successful entrepeneurs -- Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and others. Most of them are not at all reliant on inherited wealth, often quite the contrary. I think the "family money" idea doesn't stand up to scrutiny, indeed in my experience those born to wealth don't accomplish much at all.
    - eli_gottlieb 12y ago
      Elon Musk: judging by the fact that he went to a traditional English "public school" (what Americans would call a private school, actually), his family was well-off. Went to the University of Pennsylvania. Richard Branson: born the son of a barrister and grandson of a knighted member of the High Court. Also attended an English public school. Exceptional for not attending university. Steve Jobs: son of a mechanic/carpenter (finally someone blue-collar!) and... oh no wait, an accountant who worked as a payroll clerk at one of the first Silicon Valley high-tech companies. Attended an expensive private college. Bill Gates: son of lawyers, got Microsoft's first OS contract for MS-DOS through his mother's connections to the board of IBM. Attended the University of Washington. Being merely well-off to start with is also family money.
      - lutusp 12y ago
        > Steve Jobs: son of a mechanic/carpenter ... Sorry, no. Steve Jobs was an orphan. > Attended an expensive private college. Dropped out of Reed College. > Richard Branson: born the son of a barrister and grandson of a knighted member of the High Court. These are genetic references, not financial ones. Genetics isn't the issue under discussion. You managed to overlook the fact that none of the examples had inherited money at the time of their greatest success. Attending an exclusive school is certainly no assurance of later success, often the contrary, and can't be equated with the classic case of inheriting family money. > Being merely well-off to start with is also family money. That twists the earlier premise so far as to render it meaningless. And how can the orphan Steve Jobs be described as "well-off to start with"?

Bill Gates is an outlier as are other famous college dropouts.

by rpedela 12y ago

Bill Gates is an outlier as are other famous college dropouts.

noblethrasher 12y ago

Also, technically not a drop out; he's still on leave.

scrollaway 12y ago

The funny thing about college dropouts: It's rare for a college dropout to become obscenely successful, but conversely it is also not uncommon for someone obscenely successful to be a college dropout. Or heck, it's not even that uncommon for successful people as long as we're not talking about something like lawyers (TV doesn't enter the equation, Suits.). I guess what I'm trying to say is, Bill Gates is an outlier in a heck of a lot more than education. Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" has little to do with formal education and more to do with skills learned later in life. Which implies that being successful at a young age requires those skills to come earlier (which they are less likely to if you spend most of your time in college).

dllthomas 12y ago
People who are obscenely successful have clearly found something to do of tremendous value (in whatever sense they are "successful" - I'm not making a separate normative judgment). It isn't surprising that they might drop things of lesser value - and it doesn't mean those things are not still of significant value.
rpedela 12y ago
> It's rare for a college dropout to become obscenely successful, but conversely it is also not uncommon for someone obscenely successful to be a college dropout. Reference?
eli_gottlieb 12y ago
>Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" has little to do with formal education and more to do with skills learned later in life. Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" currently has little to do with formal education or with skills, but instead has more to do with family money.
- lutusp 12y ago
  > Maybe it's time to consider that "being successful" currently has little to do with formal education or with skills, but instead has more to do with family money. Consider a list of recent, spectacularly successful entrepeneurs -- Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and others. Most of them are not at all reliant on inherited wealth, often quite the contrary. I think the "family money" idea doesn't stand up to scrutiny, indeed in my experience those born to wealth don't accomplish much at all.
  - eli_gottlieb 12y ago
    Elon Musk: judging by the fact that he went to a traditional English "public school" (what Americans would call a private school, actually), his family was well-off. Went to the University of Pennsylvania. Richard Branson: born the son of a barrister and grandson of a knighted member of the High Court. Also attended an English public school. Exceptional for not attending university. Steve Jobs: son of a mechanic/carpenter (finally someone blue-collar!) and... oh no wait, an accountant who worked as a payroll clerk at one of the first Silicon Valley high-tech companies. Attended an expensive private college. Bill Gates: son of lawyers, got Microsoft's first OS contract for MS-DOS through his mother's connections to the board of IBM. Attended the University of Washington. Being merely well-off to start with is also family money.
    - lutusp 12y ago
      > Steve Jobs: son of a mechanic/carpenter ... Sorry, no. Steve Jobs was an orphan. > Attended an expensive private college. Dropped out of Reed College. > Richard Branson: born the son of a barrister and grandson of a knighted member of the High Court. These are genetic references, not financial ones. Genetics isn't the issue under discussion. You managed to overlook the fact that none of the examples had inherited money at the time of their greatest success. Attending an exclusive school is certainly no assurance of later success, often the contrary, and can't be equated with the classic case of inheriting family money. > Being merely well-off to start with is also family money. That twists the earlier premise so far as to render it meaningless. And how can the orphan Steve Jobs be described as "well-off to start with"?