I'm fairly convinced that college will be obsolete by the time my children are old enough to attend. World shrinking fast, and don't forget about smart siblings.
Is College Really Worth It?
41–50 of 68 posts
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Nowadays you can learn nearly anything for free with just an internet connection and some dedication It's no different from the situation before the internet, since books are cheap (compared to your time) and usually are still a better source of information on such structured subjects anyway. In fact, when I was in college, I mostly read textbooks anyway instead of attending lectures (it's easier for me to learn th…
No, the situation is very different now with the internet since you can now study subjects in any arbitrary order, as long as you diligently identify and follow the dependencies (i.e. prerequisites). Prescribed curricula and structured courses were much more important in the pre-internet days since it was much harder to use the dependency-order learning approach. I've learned a decent amount of mathematical stuff on…
Learning math from Wikipedia is like learning foreign languages from a dictionary. It seems that you are intent on believing what you chose to believe, though, so good luck with that.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, the situation is very different now with the internet since you can now study subjects in any arbitrary order, as long as you diligently identify and follow the dependencies (i.e. prerequisites). Prescribed curricula and structured courses were much more important in the pre-internet days since it was much harder to use the dependency-order learning approach. I've learned a decent amount of mathematical stuff on…
Learning math from Wikipedia is like learning foreign languages from a dictionary. It seems that you are intent on believing what you chose to believe, though, so good luck with that.
I'd be seriously impressed by anyone who could actually learn math or physics from wikipedia. Those articles are so poorly written and jargon heavy that I rarely learn anything from them.
Happily the computer science articles tend to make at least a little sense. But then I already have a degree in the field.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, the situation is very different now with the internet since you can now study subjects in any arbitrary order, as long as you diligently identify and follow the dependencies (i.e. prerequisites). Prescribed curricula and structured courses were much more important in the pre-internet days since it was much harder to use the dependency-order learning approach. I've learned a decent amount of mathematical stuff on…
Learning math from Wikipedia is like learning foreign languages from a dictionary. It seems that you are intent on believing what you chose to believe, though, so good luck with that.
Wikipedia is a great way to get introduced to topics. Like any other encyclopedia (not dictionary) it serves as a great way to get a high-level overview of a topic. There's plenty of other resources on the internet for more in-depth information -- including free PDF versions of books.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#45It's going to sound condescending but I'll say it anyway: if you enjoy hanging out on HN (and you do since you are reading this), then you'll enjoy attending college because it's the only place on earth where everyone is college-level smart. Obvious of course, but kind of true. Everywhere else (except maybe at Google), you have to deal with the uneducated masses :-)
> ... because it's the only place on earth where everyone is college-level smart. Not true - there's plenty of places where most of the people you'll meet are quite intelligent, and not everyone in college are college-level smart. If you go to Harvard, sure, it's all fairly smart people. The average state school? Not so much. As for places with lots of smart people, it's very worth it to go get coffee at the Ritz Car…
Want to share more about talking your way into the lounges?
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
In defense of the average guy, not everyone can go out and do great things, otherwise those things wouldn't be considered great anymore.
> In defense of the average guy, not everyone can go out and do great things, otherwise those things wouldn't be considered great anymore. I incredibly, firmly disagree with this. The average person actualizes maybe - maybe 3% of their potential. It's possible for almost anyone to reach high level domain mastery in at least 2-3 fields in their lifetime, and make a at least a couple profound contributions in those fie…
Ok let me restate that, because that was not what I meant to say.
What I meant to say was that if everyone went out and achieved 100% of their potential, it wouldn't be impressive anymore.
We all have the potential to achieve roughly equal results, but what stops most of us is desire and persistance.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ... because it's the only place on earth where everyone is college-level smart. Not true - there's plenty of places where most of the people you'll meet are quite intelligent, and not everyone in college are college-level smart. If you go to Harvard, sure, it's all fairly smart people. The average state school? Not so much. As for places with lots of smart people, it's very worth it to go get coffee at the Ritz Car…
Want to share more about talking your way into the lounges?
Sure.
Before I do, let me share the general theory about life - most people are decent people and want to help you if you're nice and a decent person. They don't want to get in trouble though, so you want to make it as easy as possible for the person. So, if there's multiple people there, you have much lower odds. People want to help out, but no one wants to get reprimanded obviously.
But let's say it's one guy or girl there. You walk up, smile, greet them, ask how their day/night is going. They say good, good, maybe you smalltalk for a moment. Be as personable, friendly, and courteous as possible.
They ask for your boarding pass. You have two choices now - hand them your boarding pass and just SMILE huge, or, say something along the lines of - "Well, I'm flying Jet Blue today, but they don't have a lounge, and I always take British Airways internationally - I'd just like to grab a cup of coffee for like 20 minutes before my flight if that's cool, and I'd really appreciate it."
Which to use? Kind of a judgment call. Handing them the pass with a big, guilty smile actually works. "Go right ahead" - oh my God, I love that, I feel like James Bond if I pull that off. But I did the Jet Blue thing flying out of San Francisco - I forget what airline lounge I got into, but it was legitimately one I flew a lot. Either British Air or something Star Alliance, Jet Blue didn't have a lounge, so I just told them that and asked nicely, the girl there waived me in.
Don't take it as a given, be friendly, and remember you're asking for a favor. You're not entitled, so don't be a jerk or demanding or act like you're royalty. Helps if you're dressed well, groomed well, and speak generally upper class English - nothing snobby, stay casual, just "Good morning", "Good evening", things like that - they want it to be a nice ambiance inside, so looking like you're not going to cause problems is critical. Again, most people want to help you, but you need to make it easy for them to do so.
So, be incredibly polite and friendly, and there's a decent chance of things working out. I usually try it if I'm an hour+ early, and I don't know what my success rate is - maybe 50%? Maybe more or less. It all comes down to the individual person at the counter, how their day is going, and how full/crazy the place is. If it's not very full, they're a nice person, and having a nice day, you've got a decent shot. Can't hurt to ask, at least.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Learning math from Wikipedia is like learning foreign languages from a dictionary. It seems that you are intent on believing what you chose to believe, though, so good luck with that.
I'd be seriously impressed by anyone who could actually learn math or physics from wikipedia. Those articles are so poorly written and jargon heavy that I rarely learn anything from them. Happily the computer science articles tend to make at least a little sense. But then I already have a degree in the field.
The articles are in fact extremely well written, but they are encyclopedaic. They are not written as a textbook, but as a reference work. Most articles assume you're nearly there and need the details.
There are people who can learn from encyclopedias, but most people need well-paced, linearly(ish) arranged material.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#49I'm Matt Tibbals a recovering pedophile. Learn how I did it http://www.matthewwintibbals.com
If you read this, go to this link and flag this comment:
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#50Statistically there is so much wrong with this infographic.