Berg Tries to De-Emphasize Practical Degrees While Emphasizing Opinion Degrees

[quote] Originally posted by berg

You and I are not talking on the same level. Where you see a useless degree as something that will "improve their chances of learning a useful skill to use in the real world," I see a useless degree as something that doesn't challenge the mind, and provide you with questions that will challenge you the rest of your life.[/quote]

There's no, "we're on different levels about this." You pointed out one glaring difference between us. I'm realistic, you're idealistic. I see things from the real world standpoint; you see things from an academic bubble standpoint.

If you needed a degree to "challenge the mind," then you're hurting. If you needed a university experience to give you something that challenges you for the rest of your life, then you're hurting.

I've been challenging my mind long before I took my first college level course in high school. Other people, who've never been to college, pursue interests that allow them to challenge their minds. They ask one question, they seek the answer, which leads to other questions, which leads to the cycle repeating itself for the rest of the person's life.

Many didn't need a college education, or college degree, to do this. Most people have some kind of interest... and mind challenging activity... that they're going to ponder and consider for the rest of their lives. Most of these people have never matriculated into a university.

Maybe you could go up to a soldier digging a machine gun defense position. You could tell him that since digging fox holes "doesn't challenge the mind" like your "good schools" did, that what he's doing is a "pussy" activity. Maybe you could grab the entrenching tool from him and show him how his job is a "pussy" job.

[quote]Originally posted by berg

Sure, some people may find joy and fulfillment in advertising, but you are better off getting a degree in media or psychology. Those degrees will actually teach you something.[/quote]

This narrow view about the different degrees argues against the idea that you've "got" a "doctorate" degree.

By the time most college students settle on a degree, they've done so with two main variables. One, they have a strong interest in the discipline that they're pursuing. This includes having joy and fulfillment.

Two, they see themselves as having the aptitude for the discipline, as well as a good chance of using that discipline to secure a related job in the real world. Aptitude plays a large role in how much a student will pick up and learn. Without that aptitude, there's so much knowledge that's not going to stick.