College degree ignorance

[Questioner]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

That fact is colleges are turning out barely functional morons.

CEOs have been complaining for years that they can't hire these people without providing remedial training because they can't do anything.

 

[impuretrash]

Turns out there's not a lot of career opportunities for majors in aboriginal feminist interpretive dance theory.

 

[Vastator]

Since the government started handing out unforgivable loans; colleges got on board and started selling products, as Degrees. The Colleges want everyone to purchase their products. Thus all the worthless degrees being offered. The overwhelming bulk of which end in the word “studies”. If the degree isn’t in one of the STEM fields you can be nearly certain that it is all but worthless for anyone other than minorities who wish to land a fictitious make-work government job.
Today’s colleges in large part are just selling products to the masses. Who’s the last person you heard of who flunked out of college?

 

[Maxdeath]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

 

[Gdjjr]

College today is a money scam- unless used to study the sciences and even that is questionable- IF one learns to read, write and do basic math (and not tell others 2+2 = 5 or some such nonsense) then he/she can learn anything.

 

[impuretrash]

College today is a money scam- unless used to study the sciences and even that is questionable- IF one learns to read, write and do basic math (and not tell others 2+2 = 5 or some such nonsense) then he/she can learn anything.

This idea that everyone should go to college, that it's a requirement for success is ridiculous.

 

[Questioner]

College today is a money scam- unless used to study the sciences and even that is questionable- IF one learns to read, write and do basic math (and not tell others 2+2 = 5 or some such nonsense) then he/she can learn anything.

I don't believe it's a scam no, it's just an investment, as is anything else - ultimately there are no guarantees, and you can't "force" a company to hire you no matter what degree you invested in.

If it were me, ideally an educational system in which people learn directly from entrepreneurs or other experts in their craft, rather than standardized curriculums with an emphasis on rote learning rather than comprehension.

Such an educational business model might flourish due to the birth of the internet, given that social media has made communicating across distances for viable.

Students interested in entrepreneurship could engage in conference calls with CEOs such as Gates and Buffet, those interested in math, science, or computing could engage with actual scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, those interested in fine arts could engage with actual artists, and so on. (I don't think this model would work for professional subjects such as medicine and law).

As far as grading goes, an emphasis on completing actual projects which correspond with actual work assignments, graded by the experts themselves - such as a computer programming student being assigned an actual work of computer programming, and his grading done by one of the master computer programmers themselves, rather than people in 'teaching' jobs who often may have actually learned nothing but a grading or curriculum methodology, lacking any real depth, experience, or knowledge of the subject matter itself.

 

[Gdjjr]

I don't believe it's a scam no,

Making being in debt attractive is a scam- just as ALL the borrowing to spend BOTH sides subscribe to- once you sign your name to the "contract" you don't get out from under it (in the case of paying for college it takes years to pay off), but the debt incurred on *our behalf* by our benevolent congress critters never goes away- either is debt for false promises.

 

[Questioner]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

Overall I don't buy into these simplistic dichotomies no.

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia; as far as "arts" go, graphics design and video game design are examples of "arts" which involve mathematical or computational knowledge, so the silly "art / math" dichotomy is false. (And I'm sure there's no work of art historically, such as Michelangelo's Birth of Venus which didn't require high mathematical skill.

Ultimately it's up to the person what they try to pursue in life, and what risks they're willing to take to pursue it.

 

[Questioner]

Turns out there's not a lot of career opportunities for majors in aboriginal feminist interpretive dance theory.

There are people who turn dance into a career - I see it as an investment like anything else.

 

[jwoodie]

With a few exceptions, a college degree's main benefit was to get past the paper screeners. But it has become so devalued that even that is questionable.

 

[Questioner]

With a few exceptions, a college degree's main benefit was to get past the paper screeners. But it has become so devalued that even that is questionable.

I'd tend to agree at the lower levels, and believe that more advanced learning would require more personal effort and sacrifice.

Fancy "job titles" are dime a dozen, and rarely correspond to the actual "work" on is doing beyond the veneer.

 

[Dick Foster]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

Overall I don't buy into these simplistic dichotomies no.

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia; as far as "arts" go, graphics design and video game design are examples of "arts" which involve mathematical or computational knowledge, so the silly "art / math" dichotomy is false. (And I'm sure there's no work of art historically, such as Michelangelo's Birth of Venus which didn't require high mathematical skill.

Ultimately it's up to the person what they try to pursue in life, and what risks they're willing to take to pursue it.

Spoken like someone with a worthless BA degree and still paying for being taken in as a clueless sucker.

 

[Questioner]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

Overall I don't buy into these simplistic dichotomies no.

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia; as far as "arts" go, graphics design and video game design are examples of "arts" which involve mathematical or computational knowledge, so the silly "art / math" dichotomy is false. (And I'm sure there's no work of art historically, such as Michelangelo's Birth of Venus which didn't require high mathematical skill.

Ultimately it's up to the person what they try to pursue in life, and what risks they're willing to take to pursue it.

Spoken like someone with a worthless BA degree and still paying for being taken in as a clueless sucker.

I'm an entrepreneur, your childish opinions are worthless to me.

Degrees are worth as much as people are willing to accept them, much like money.

If your argument is related to the notion of "inherent" worth, rather than worth in the context of a dynamic economy, that's another childish argument altogether.

 

[Gdjjr]

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia;

And subject the student to debt so he can make a living teaching what? Absolutely nothing that can't be learned by reading.

 

[Questioner]

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia;

And subject the student to debt so he can make a living teaching what? Absolutely nothing that can't be learned by reading.

In practice it's irrelevant, it depends on what people are willing to pay for.

To a millionaire with a lot of money to spend, a collector's item might be worth more than an average person would couldn't imagine spending millions of dollars on a baseball card.

 

[Dick Foster]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

Overall I don't buy into these simplistic dichotomies no.

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia; as far as "arts" go, graphics design and video game design are examples of "arts" which involve mathematical or computational knowledge, so the silly "art / math" dichotomy is false. (And I'm sure there's no work of art historically, such as Michelangelo's Birth of Venus which didn't require high mathematical skill.

Ultimately it's up to the person what they try to pursue in life, and what risks they're willing to take to pursue it.

Spoken like someone with a worthless BA degree and still paying for being taken in as a clueless sucker.

I'm an entrepreneur, your childish opinions are worthless to me.

Degrees are worth as much as people are willing to accept them, much like money.

If your argument is related to the notion of "inherent" worth, rather than worth in the context of a dynamic economy, that's another childish argument altogether.

In your childish and equally clueless opinion.

 

[Gdjjr]

n practice it's irrelevant, it depends on what people are willing to pay for.

To a millionaire with a lot of money to spend, a collector's item might be worth more than an average person would couldn't imagine spending millions of dollars on a baseball card.

What do you mean it's irrelevant? Worth is what someone is willing to pay- value is a pre-determined worth to the holder- "might" is an ambiguous way out- Bill Gates didn't finish college- what's "it" worth to him? To the college, the same amount as they would charge you- the difference being, Bill Gates wouldn't have to go in debt- you on the other hand-

 

[Questioner]

At this point, the basic ignorance of a lot of people regarding "college degrees" is surprising.

Some people claim that college degrees which end up being "worthless" or fail to get them the job they wished are a "scam".

But the reality is that no one can force a company to "hire you", no matter how stellar your degrees or resume.

College degrees are like money - people invest in them because they have faith that they're worth something, when on their own they are just pieces of paper - ultimately it's up to the companies delegation or discretion who to hire.

(And from the research I done, most jobs are actually acquired through networking or personal contacts, whether family members, coworkers, college facualty, or otherwise - whether or not there is a "degree" in involved, not merely those posted on a list of "jobs wanted").

This is effectively what all jobs are and how they are acquired - at the basic level, it's just common sense - jobs are acquired through contracts or negotiation of deals, regardless of what that entails, such as a specific degree.

Some people just seem to naively want to believe that everything is "guaranteed" if they just follow this or that set of instructions, when the reality is more dynamic and complicated than that.

Some think that a degree in underwater basket weaving should lead to a great job.
There are only so many that are looking to hire art history majors, there are only so many that want English lit majors.
No matter how many degrees you have there is no guarantee that they will lead to a job. Most companies hire not only on degrees they hire on other criteria. Things like work experience, work history, your ability to interact with others.

The only thing that guarantees you a job is yourself. I retired from a job that normally required a degree in geology or similar. I had one year of college. I worked my way up from the bottom proving that I could do jobs as well or better then others. In the end I had more knowledge, experience and could make proper snap decisions better then most coming to the job with a college education. I worked in a number of states and in places around the globe.

Overall I don't buy into these simplistic dichotomies no.

Some people may learn a subject and go on to teach it in academia; as far as "arts" go, graphics design and video game design are examples of "arts" which involve mathematical or computational knowledge, so the silly "art / math" dichotomy is false. (And I'm sure there's no work of art historically, such as Michelangelo's Birth of Venus which didn't require high mathematical skill.

Ultimately it's up to the person what they try to pursue in life, and what risks they're willing to take to pursue it.

Spoken like someone with a worthless BA degree and still paying for being taken in as a clueless sucker.

I'm an entrepreneur, your childish opinions are worthless to me.

Degrees are worth as much as people are willing to accept them, much like money.

If your argument is related to the notion of "inherent" worth, rather than worth in the context of a dynamic economy, that's another childish argument altogether.

In your childish and equally clueless opinion.

Not at all, a degree is a piece of paper, whether a BA or MB, in practice it's worth is what someone is subjectively willing to offer in return for it, much as the worth of entering that contract or agreement to begin with is what someone subjectively decides it's worth on that basis of "such and such" a factor, that's just simple economics.

So what you seem to be childishly arguing is that such and such a thing "should" be worth this or that, simply because of some faith or reverence you place in it, when in practice it isn't.

For instance, you could argue all you want that athletes, such as professional football players or musicians "don't deserve" the money they make based on what you deem or believe to be the inherent worthiness of the professions themselves, but in practice, if people are willing to offer million dollar contracts to athletes or musicians, and comparatively less to a person with a generic degree, it's not going to change what actually happens, no matter how "right" you are or suppose you are.

So you're merely arguing on a basis of inherency, or what you believe "should" be worth this or that based on what you subjectively ascribe or attribute to it, rather than what is actually happening.