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The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

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Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#51

Post by ghaff »

huevosabio wrote: post #36
ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #24

The deep irony of praising autodidacticism in lieu of getting a degree is that one has to be a world class autodidact to succeed in a Ph.D program and that a university is stuffed to the brim with resources to support that autodidacticism: libraries, lab facilities, experts, etc. for both graduate and undergraduate studies. And not in just in one field, but dozens and dozens of fields. A real autodidact would be in s…

University, and especially grad school, is really an amazing environment. Because of these tools and resources and because everyone involved has learning as its prime drive. We should normalize sabaticals were you go back to university for a summer or what not.

Companies just don't want to give people long stretches of time off of course.

However, I suspect that another important dynamic is that it's essentially impossible at a small firm because there aren't a lot of people to cover the workload. Fast forward and you now have 5,000 people some reasonable portion having been there for 5+ years. OK, how do you initiate a sabbatical program that doesn't lead to a ton of people taking time off or screwing the long-term employees?

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#52

Post by irusensei »

Back in my home country you are either rich enough to pay tuition or you study hard (as in: you are rich enough so your parents can support your attempts at enter the top public universities) and then there are the shitty cheap uni that people do just to get their degrees. I would call those a borderline scam if people wouldn't getting exactly what they want: a cheap low effort bachelor degree.

I've opted out of everything. Sure getting work was harder but everyone I worked with loved my work so I always had a path ahead. Normally I can only get work if someone over there interacted with my previous work so they know I'm legit.

Still can't deny that my life would be easier if I just got the cheap McUniversity degree.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#53

Post by p1esk »

raverbashing wrote: post #47
ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #24

The deep irony of praising autodidacticism in lieu of getting a degree is that one has to be a world class autodidact to succeed in a Ph.D program and that a university is stuffed to the brim with resources to support that autodidacticism: libraries, lab facilities, experts, etc. for both graduate and undergraduate studies. And not in just in one field, but dozens and dozens of fields. A real autodidact would be in s…

Yes Except for the @ss-kissing, the unnaturally inflexible academic environment, the pressure for publishing, etc Then academia becomes hell

What you described is similar to a typical work environment you should be ready for, unless you were born rich.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#54

Post by bbwbsb »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #24

The deep irony of praising autodidacticism in lieu of getting a degree is that one has to be a world class autodidact to succeed in a Ph.D program and that a university is stuffed to the brim with resources to support that autodidacticism: libraries, lab facilities, experts, etc. for both graduate and undergraduate studies. And not in just in one field, but dozens and dozens of fields. A real autodidact would be in s…

The problem is that while they have most of the good learning resources locked away, they are frequently aligned towards other goals, and they are structured in ways that make that clear.

I didn't go to college because I was rebuffed by the sharp edges. And honestly it is difficult to not resent at times my peers that both did and failed to use the resources available to them.

I wish it was just accepted that ability comes in different forms from different sources, and should be cultivated wherever it is at, without social gatekeeping, status games, etc. The banality and simultaneously seriousness of these rituals repulses me.

Because the principle you suggest applies in reverse as well. If an autodidact knows more than someone with those resources available - then they are so much better equipped to learn the material that they should be an automatic hire and you should ignore anyone else unless they are significantly more capable/learned.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#55

Post by ghaff »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #48
alfiedotwtf wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s been 20 years since I’ve ever been asked for proof of my degree, and also 20 years since it has ever come up during an interview. I think university only counts when you’re freshly graduated because you don’t have a lot to work with given the pool of candidates… but once you instead require X years of experience then education does not matter - but if it ever did, nope it out of the interview because they sound…

I was asked not just for my GPA but the specific grades for all of my university courses >10 years prior even though I had worked in FANG for many years. The recruiter apologized for it and said the directive came from HR.

Idiocy. It's probably not literally true that I couldn't get my hands on my grades somehow but I certainly wouldn't have them anywhere handy.

Let's not even talk about the fact that not only my grades but my majors would mostly be irrelevant to any job I took today.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#56

Post by bokoharambe »

silverquiet wrote: post #28
bokoharambe wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really necessary? I'm not seeing it.

I have friends who did not go the college degree route and it is very grim.

I was thinking more along the lines of "does schooling have to be awful" than "should you go to school." I apologize for being unclear.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#57

Post by jhbadger »

grugagag wrote: post #20
jhbadger wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the ultimate university degree, the PhD, is all about learning how to learn. It's unlikely that you will continue to work on the project you did your dissertation on where you spent 3 to 6 years becoming an expert on in grad school. The point wasn't getting the knowledge, it was developing the skills to get up to speed on a new topic quickly.

Does it really deliver on that though?

Yes. While movies often talk about people "with two PhDs" (and yes, there are a few people who do that for some strange reason), a PhD prepares you to change fields dramatically without any additional formal training. Much of molecular biology in the 1950s was created by physicists who decided to become biologists and who learned genetics and biochemistry and then created a new branch of biology. While not as dramatically, I myself have changed research topics several times since getting my PhD 25 years ago.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#58

Post by throwanem »

leetrout wrote: post #18
DrDroop wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never managed to finish my degree mainly due to dyslexia, and started working as a self-taught programmer, but I can only second this opinion. My CV doesn't get past most first screenings and even then people sort of treat you like a second class citizen. Maybe I should start lying about my lack of a degree like a real con man.

> Maybe I should start lying about my lack of a degree like a real con man. Nah. The world needs more people with principles and strong moral character.

...to exploit.

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#59

Post by raverbashing »

p1esk wrote: post #53
raverbashing wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes Except for the @ss-kissing, the unnaturally inflexible academic environment, the pressure for publishing, etc Then academia becomes hell

What you described is similar to a typical work environment you should be ready for, unless you were born rich.

I've been to both (funny you assume otherwise), it's not even a question.

The worse jobs are usually worse than the average academic environments but the averages are far apart

Re: The Era of the Autodidact Is Here (2018)

#60

Post by silverquiet »

bokoharambe wrote: post #56
silverquiet wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have friends who did not go the college degree route and it is very grim.

I was thinking more along the lines of "does schooling have to be awful" than "should you go to school." I apologize for being unclear.

The majority of Americans do not have degrees but do have jobs that are necessary for society, which isn’t to say that they pay well.
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