Going to university does not broaden the mind • Hacker News Board

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#261

Post by em-bee » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #253

em-bee wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

actually, the most important thing to teach, which not all schools are teaching is "how to learn" for example teaching multiple programming languages has the benefit of learning how the languages are related to each other. a student that learned several languages over the course of their studies will be much better at picking up yet another language when they start working. in my university each different programming…

Wouldn’t it be better instead of learning a ton of languages, to learn how to “engineer” systems? By that I mean, learning how to build and manage complex projects?

learning how to build and manage complex projects doesn't conflict with learning new languages along the way. unless you work on a project that takes longer than 6 months you can still start new projects with another new language each term

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#262

Post by scarface74 » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 7:29 PM UTC

em-bee wrote: post #261

scarface74 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t it be better instead of learning a ton of languages, to learn how to “engineer” systems? By that I mean, learning how to build and manage complex projects?

learning how to build and manage complex projects doesn't conflict with learning new languages along the way. unless you work on a project that takes longer than 6 months you can still start new projects with another new language each term

And this is at the opposite end of the spectrum....

On one hand, you have computer science majors who know theory but can’t code their way out of a wet paper bag.

On the other hand, you have the computer science majors who can do leetCode in their sleep but don’t have the stamina to see a project to 100% completion and easily get distracted by the oooh shiny.

And let’s not forget the computer science majors who can code and know theory but don’t know anything about business or how to communicate and deal with large organizations.

Out of those three - I speak from experience in two. I always knew how to “program” as a professional developer. I was a hobbyist before going to college.

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#263

Post by derangedHorse » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 7:44 PM UTC

finnthehuman wrote: post #258

jedberg wrote: post #92

University definitely broadened my mind. I grew up in an area that was 99+% white and 50+% Jewish. We literally had “the black family” with twins who were our top track stars. And a few Asian families who hid their Asianness. It was at University that I learned about Asian culture. It was the first time I used chopsticks. It was the first time I drank tea without sugar. It was the first time I ate Chinese food that w…

I wouldn't describe the cliche post-highschool hard left swing of someone with a sheltered upbringing as "broadening". I don't mean to be too dismissive, but I spent enough time in a university town after my own graduation to see this trajectory play out a number of times. Kids come in, and adopt a new set of ideas that suit their new environment just as blindly as they adopted ideas compatible with their previous en…

You definitely are “painting with a broad brush”

As someone who has also spent a lot of time in a college environment I disagree that students blindly accept new positions to suit what’s around them. In fact, I would say a change in opinion shows they were not only able to take in new information, but also make the personal decision to change firmly held values that no longer make sense.

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#264

Post by et-al » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 9:17 PM UTC

andrepd wrote: post #94

et-al wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the distance in the world means nothing if a traveler is still mentally tied to their home country. There's a good number of expats in [country] who hang out at Irish pubs with other expats, bitch about [country], and don't bother learning the language. You have to be willing to unmoor yourself, which I think deep down a lot of people aren't seeking to do.

You can say "English people in Portugal or Spain", and you've got a stereotype that's actually accurate.

Cheers--I didn't want to single out any country in particular because it's a fairly common stereotype in whichever expat scene.

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#265

Post by maxxxxx » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

someguydave wrote: post #254

WalterBright wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your rights are inalienable. This means that you cannot transfer them, even voluntarily. They remain your rights. Slave contracts are worthless for this reason.

Who defines which rights you have and which ones are inalienable?

Society.

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#266

Post by alan_wade » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

thegeomaster wrote: post #158

Aloha wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because everyone isn't as smart as you are, and with the elimination of many jobs at the bottom of the economy we no longer have a good way to ensure the pie of wealth us equitably divided.

But looking at it as a pie that needs to be divided is wrong. One of the core tenets of capitalism (well, in theory) is that wealth is created literally from nothing. It's not a zero-sum game. In practice, unfortunately, one needs certain prerequisites to be able to do this. So in my view, the problem is not that something is unequally divided, but that a class of people systematically aren't able to create enough we…

This is a very reasonable comment I completely agree with. Even if you don't agree, it's a valid point of view that contributes to the discussion, it doesn't deserve to be downvoted.

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#267

Post by repolfx » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 10:28 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #103

ralusek wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>1 out of 5 professors in America identify as Marxist. I wonder how they're distributed among the various disciplines.

Here is a helpful chart that gives this data:

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2015/03/the_prevalence_1...

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#268

Post by kbenson » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 10:46 PM UTC

Valmar wrote: post #211

kbenson wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is. It's also probably got an easier claim to that word than 'white' does.

"Jewish" is a religion. "White" is a skin colour, otherwise categorized as "race", which technically doesn't really exist anyways. All that really exists is a diverse range of genetic differences, however, all humans can 100% interbreed without any issues.

Jewish is also an ethnicity. There are even specific subsets of jews that have different health issues.[1]

To my understanding, Jew refers to both an ethnic group and a religion, so it can be confusing, but the ethnic group definitely can be referred to as a race (which going by most the common dictionary definitions of race generally includes geographic and ethnic grouping. I looked it up prior to my earlier comment to be sure).

It is possible to be non-religious or practice another religion and be ethnically Jewish, and it's possible to be another ethnicity and convert to Judaism.

1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_genetics_of_Jews

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#269

Post by hnuser355 » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 10:50 PM UTC

sethammons wrote: post #119

jedberg wrote: post #92

University definitely broadened my mind. I grew up in an area that was 99+% white and 50+% Jewish. We literally had “the black family” with twins who were our top track stars. And a few Asian families who hid their Asianness. It was at University that I learned about Asian culture. It was the first time I used chopsticks. It was the first time I drank tea without sugar. It was the first time I ate Chinese food that w…

True story. At work, folks going out for lunch. Ask if I want dim sum. I had never heard of it. All I could think of, in redneck fashion, was "that boy ain't bright, he's dim some." I declined going. Still not sure what it is. I think it is a soup.

If you don’t know what a food is you can just go with them and then you’ll know after

Re: Going to university does not broaden the mind

#270

Post by ergothus » Sat, Nov 24, 2018, 10:57 PM UTC

PeterisP wrote: post #217

8bitsrule wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"wealth is created literally from nothing." Most of the real wealth I see being created has ultimately come from the exploitation of natural resources. Far from being 'nothing', most of these limited resources (which in another theory belong to all life on Earth) require underpaid 'human resources' to turn them into the highly-profitable 'nothing' of which you speak. Much of which winds up in the garbage. (E.g., here…

Primary extraction (mining, farming, forestry, fishing) is something like 6% of the global economy. On average, the things you or I use consist of 6% exploitation of natural resources and 94% of labor after that. Natural resources are important, but now (as opposed to 19th century) they are a tiny part of what we make and use, they are not the main part of wealth.

How do you estimate the "consumption" of clean water and air? How much of the non extraction economy relies on the extraction happening?

I cant imagine how to estimate those numbers, but I do imagine they'd be significant.