As with many things, probably has a ton to do with the specific student. University broadened my mind incredibly and I’m quite thankful for it. But then, I tended towards multidisciplinary programs with subjects I didn’t naturally excel at. And I had good professors and smart peers.
Going to university does not broaden the mind
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Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#12I wish this was more common knowledge.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#13In short, the study suggests university does not change personality or attitudes; however while vocational training increases conscientiousness, it decreases investigative or enterprising traits. Would it be wrong to say it sounds like a lot of people doing vocational training end up just wanting to do a good job and get on with enjoying their lives? Is that a title more in-line with the article, and not even surpris…
> willingness or ability to question ones own assumptions or biases
This is alternately discouraged or demanded in today's educational institutions, depending on whether your current assumptions and biases are the correct ones.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#14Outside of specific academic focus, nearly everyone I know who has graduated a US university thinks basically the same way.
Most people I know (I'm in university) can recite facts rather easily, they understand the theory and practice relatively well. What they seem to lack (what most people I meet seem to lack) is questions and a questioning mind.
Wow, that’s the polar opposite of my experience (the “lacking a questioning mind” bit). Maybe you’re in the wrong program or studying a major that doesn’t fit your intellectual needs?
(Added later...) I don’t know what you’re studying. And I know philosophy and fine arts programs get shat on sometimes, but one thing those subjects allow (when taught properly) is a very, very deep questioning and thoughtfulness towards many things. In my experience, anyway.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#15[deleted]
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#16Outside of specific academic focus, nearly everyone I know who has graduated a US university thinks basically the same way.
A cynical view is that US universities teaches you the opinions and manners you need to assume your role in the ruling class.
It is literally the exact opposite. The ratio of leftist to right professors in university is 12:1, even more pronounced among faculty. 1 out of 5 professors in America identify as Marxist.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people I know (I'm in university) can recite facts rather easily, they understand the theory and practice relatively well. What they seem to lack (what most people I meet seem to lack) is questions and a questioning mind.
Wow, that’s the polar opposite of my experience (the “lacking a questioning mind” bit). Maybe you’re in the wrong program or studying a major that doesn’t fit your intellectual needs? (Added later...) I don’t know what you’re studying. And I know philosophy and fine arts programs get shat on sometimes, but one thing those subjects allow (when taught properly) is a very, very deep questioning and thoughtfulness toward…
I was in Engineering, then Applied Math, now in computer science.
I don't do well in university style math classes. It takes me a long time working through something to understand what is happening (and why - the why of a thing is one of the first questions I ask when I'm learning something new).
It takes me about twice as long to learn a math concept as my peers (or so it seems). But I'm typically the first to speak up during a lecture.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#18Outside of specific academic focus, nearly everyone I know who has graduated a US university thinks basically the same way.
Jeff Schmidt's book "Disciplined Minds" is a great read about this kind of thing -- http://disciplinedminds.tripod.com/
Here's some discussion from a review of Disciplined Minds by Brian Martin:
> Jeff Schmidt provides an answer in his book Disciplined Minds: professionals, including teachers, are selected and molded to have politically and intellectually subordinate attitudes, thereby making their creative energies available to the system. In short, "professional education and employment push people to accept a role in which they do not make a significant difference, a politically subordinate role." (p. 2).
> The first step in Schmidt’s argument is the claim that professionals - including police, doctors, lawyers, teachers and many others - think less independently than nonprofessionals. He cites opinion polls taken during the Vietnam war showing that support for the war was greater among those with more higher education.
> Schmidt argues that what really makes an individual a professional is not technical knowledge, but rather "ideological discipline."
> A key to creating docile professionals is professional training. Through their training, budding professionals learn to orient their intellectual effort to tasks assigned to them. Schmidt has a wonderful expression for this: "assignable curiosity." Children are naturally curious about all sorts of things. Along the road to becoming a professional, they learn how to orient this curiosity to tasks assigned by others.
https://www.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/pubs/01BRrt.html
The journalist Lyn Gerry read and recorded most of the chapters in the book, they can be listened to here: https://www.unwelcomeguests.net/Disciplined_Minds
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#19Outside of specific academic focus, nearly everyone I know who has graduated a US university thinks basically the same way.
A cynical view is that US universities teaches you the opinions and manners you need to assume your role in the ruling class.
I think that’s more SciencesPo which grooms the political/ruling class. It’s too diffuse in the US to say so.
Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind
#20I wish this was more common knowledge.
Is going to university to "broaden the mind" a common sentiment? Maybe that's a European thing, because the mindset in the US is that college is a step towards a good career, which unfortunately doesn't seem to hold as much weight these days for a growing number of fields.