Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
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Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#2Vivek went to American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Institute. I am not really sure what kind of response he was expecting other than the one presented to him.
Ask HN, is it really an unbiased article when you take their responses, and not for example, students or recent graduates ?
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#3There is no control group. Why not pick 40 very bright young people and give half of them $100K to start a company and the other half $100K to stay in school and complete their education?
That would be a really interesting and exciting experiment. I wish someone would do it.
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#4Tom Katsouleas "It is during one’s undergraduate years that one discovers oneself, where one fits into the world and what it means to be human."*
Four years and $200,000 for a piece of paper and a false understanding of where you fit into the world.
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#5Of course engineering school deans are going to think dropping out is a bad idea. The guy at Best Buy will also try to convince you to buy a warranty on your flat screen T.V.
There are definitely some good reasons to stay in school, but this article rubbed me the wrong way. Take for example, a couple of the arguments presented:
Argument: You get a lot of valuable social connections from being in school. Counterargument: You will meet others and learn from your peers by surrounding yourself by smart interesting people, but this doesn't have to be at a university. Why not connect with smart ambitious people of all ages that are working in your field? If the main value of elite colleges is that they screen bright students and bring them together for 40K a year, the students are getting ripped off.
Argument: Mark Zuckerberg was successful because he was vetted and educated by Harvard. Counterargument: This seems highly unlikely. No one used Facebook because they knew the developer was Harvard educated. And, Zuckerberg was an accomplished hacker before he came to Harvard.
Argument: Most successful entrepreneurs are not drop outs. Counterargument: That is because most people who try entrepreneurship are not drop outs. A better question is whether drop outs who start businesses are more or less likely to succeed. An even better question, is whether the same person is more likely to succeed if he/she drops out. Unfortunately, the last question is impossible to answer.
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#6Vivek went to American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Institute. I am not really sure what kind of response he was expecting other than the one presented to him. Ask HN, is it really an unbiased article when you take their responses, and not for example, students or recent graduates ?
Certainly one can expect their responses to be pro-higher-education. However, I feel like their justification for their responses is the enlightening part. I believe they are correct to point out that Thiel is relying on anecdotal evidence and to criticize his conclusions based on said evidence. They also acknowledge that, in some cases, there are people who do not need higher education.
So, while their overall viewpoints are not unexpected, there is plenty to be gained from their support of their viewpoints.
As to whether it is an unbiased article, I don't think it ever claimed to be. It seemed to me to be clearly the author stating his opinion and presenting the opinions of some engineering school dean.
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#7Vivek went to American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Institute. I am not really sure what kind of response he was expecting other than the one presented to him. Ask HN, is it really an unbiased article when you take their responses, and not for example, students or recent graduates ?
He is not being unbiased, and does not even claim to. He is presenting his own views on education, which are contradictory to peter thiel's, and using education experts' opinions (and other anecdotal evidences) to back them up.
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#8[deleted]
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#9There is no control group. Why not pick 40 very bright young people and give half of them $100K to start a company and the other half $100K to stay in school and complete their education? That would be a really interesting and exciting experiment. I wish someone would do it.
Would be awesome but it seems hard to implement. Do you randomly choose half and tell them "sorry, no school, you must start a business"? If you let them choose which group they're in instead is the experiment biased? Ideas anyone?
Re: Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel
#10There is no control group. Why not pick 40 very bright young people and give half of them $100K to start a company and the other half $100K to stay in school and complete their education? That would be a really interesting and exciting experiment. I wish someone would do it.
I agree that it would be interesting and exciting, but the sample size still seems small to draw any serious conclusions.