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At what point is education no longer beneficial ? No doubting it creates opportunities but guarantees nothing, at what point do you believe it becomes wasteful.

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At what point is education no longer beneficial ? No doubting it creates opportunities but guarantees nothing, at what point do you believe it becomes wasteful.

 

I believe all of grade school, high school, and the first 2 years of college are a waste of time.:)

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I don't think that educating yourself ever becomes wasteful.

 

I agree... teaching an old dog new tricks and keeping the knife sharp so to speak just makes you more valuable to a company and makes your options even wider..

 

Unless you are a professional student who at 35 still has 4 years to go after changing majors 3 times and you still live at home and have your parents pay your way.. then it would be a waste...

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Modern life is such that prepetuial edcation ~ wheather formal or informal is an absolute necessity. Some techologies are such that they completely turn over within a matter of months ~ not years.

 

Most jobs do not require a college education, but 80% of them do required additional education and training beyond the high school level, and this includes on-going training and education. To do that you would need a good solid foundation upon which to build.

 

My Dad was a helicopter mechanic and although he had a very good foundation of how helicopters worked ~ he would periodically have to go back for additional training and education, such as when the Army came out with the all new and radical Apache attack helicopter.

 

Learning and education should be presued for the sake of knowlege ~ thus for its own sake.

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Cherry Blossom 35

How lame is it that my boss's kid went to the most expensive school in the nation for grad school and now earns only $31,000/year? In this city that is practically poverty rate.

 

But since her dad pays her bills, that is her spending money! No joke!

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My future boss, CEO, President of the company I work for, (just one of several that his Fathers own, anyone of which earns in the hundreds of millions of dollars) is a high school drop out and former drug addict.

nor

Here in the rural South the number one employeer is family owned businesses which employ less than 100 people. The nepotism is un-real!

 

Its not just a question of what you knoiw ~ nor just who you know ~ but who your related to or which marriage your married into.

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How lame is it that my boss's kid went to the most expensive school in the nation for grad school and now earns only $31,000/year? In this city that is practically poverty rate.

 

 

That's insane, but I bet she could find a job that pays way more if she wanted to. Since her dad provides her with a lot of money she might have zero motivation to get a better job.

 

I don't think education is ever a waste, it's one of few things that can never be taken away from you.

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At what point is education no longer beneficial ? No doubting it creates opportunities but guarantees nothing, at what point do you believe it becomes wasteful.

 

Last I checked I was permanently enrolled in the School of Hard Knocks.

 

You never stop learning new things, even watching the news or Science channel teaches you something new.

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Trialbyfire
I don't think that educating yourself ever becomes wasteful.

Absolutely. There's no such thing as being over-educated, whether it's through a recognized institution for learning, or everyday learning.

 

If I don't learn something new everyday, I consider it a waste of a day.

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I believe all stages are important and beneficial.

Grade School is the foundation , it's where we learn to read and write, High School is enhancing what the grade school have founded in us as a person. Teen life is the start of Social Life Exposure so its also beneficial. And College , its where we decide what we want to be as a Professional , it helps us brings out what we are good at, be it on Medicine or Business Management or Engineering!

 

:p

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The other posters gave me an idea.

 

Education is no longer beneficial when you become any of the following:

  • Dead
  • (Supreme) Overlord
  • (Supreme) Warlord
  • CEO
  • Dictator
  • Emperor
  • Monarch
  • Profitable business owner
  • "large" lottery winner
  • Grand Poobah

 

Till then we get educated, move up the ranks, then shape policy.

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Cherry Blossom 35
That's insane, but I bet she could find a job that pays way more if she wanted to. Since her dad provides her with a lot of money she might have zero motivation to get a better job.

 

I don't think education is ever a waste, it's one of few things that can never be taken away from you.

 

Also insane that at 27 it is her first job EVER.

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Also insane that at 27 it is her first job EVER.

 

At least she has done something I kind of respect that. I don't see a reason or any real benefit to taking crummy jobs through college or starting work early.

 

If you've got the money, slow down and enjoy life lots of time to work latter on.

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mental_traveller

I had what by conventional standards would be considered a top class education, but after learning to read, write, and do arithmetic, the rest has been of very limited use to me. I sincerely feel that my degree is just a useless piece of paper. The best lessons are not learned in a classroom or lecture hall IMO. My most useful skills have come from reading things myself, thinking, personal experience, and observing others. Not from being taught by an academic.

 

It would be different if you were talking about a profession like a doctor or lawyer. There you need to pass the relevant exam simply to have the right to practise, so you need to conform to the way things are done. But in business all that matters is do you make money - everything else is irrelevant. In the arts world all that matters is can you create something that will appeal to people. In the more open and free career paths, I'm not convinced that your school/university education makes the blindest bit of difference.

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KenzieAbsolutely
Also insane that at 27 it is her first job EVER.

 

At least she has done something I kind of respect that. I don't see a reason or any real benefit to taking crummy jobs through college or starting work early.

 

If you've got the money, slow down and enjoy life lots of time to work latter on.

 

agreed, max. for some of us, this is how it works, and i don't apologize for it. people have tried to make me guilty all the time for being, i don't know, i guess, 'luckier' or more fortunate than they are.

 

what's funny is that i've never once looked down on people who have less than i do.

 

i may have started later in life than some, i may worry less about money than some, but it doesn't make me a loser just because i didn't start working at 14. i worked my ass off in high school, college, getting my professional degree, and beyond. i don't have to work right now, but i choose to because i love to be in situations that i can learn from, and provide for people. just because my employment history doesn't equal some others' does not make me a lazy, pathetic idiot undeserving of what i have, and that my endeavors are unworthy of respect.

 

sorry. i guess that hit a sore spot with me. no matter how much you have or don't, learning is so, so important. you can never have enough knowledge, ya know? i'm so tired of this 'it's okay to insult those who have it going well for them, but leave the underdog alone' mentality.

 

in any case, i will never stop learning. in fact, i am ready to go back to school. i will forever be a student, even if just a student of life. i think everyone should be.

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At what point is education no longer beneficial ? No doubting it creates opportunities but guarantees nothing, at what point do you believe it becomes wasteful.

 

 

WOW.. I can't believe this.. education is ALWAYS beneficial... since when is it wasteful?

 

Nobody can say that they are TOO educated.. :laugh: that would be weird...

 

My daughter's bio father had the equivalent of 3 PhD.. but never went for his freaken thesis.. did he waste his time.. I don't think so..

 

But he was an educated jerk! :laugh:

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Trialbyfire
I had what by conventional standards would be considered a top class education, but after learning to read, write, and do arithmetic, the rest has been of very limited use to me. I sincerely feel that my degree is just a useless piece of paper. The best lessons are not learned in a classroom or lecture hall IMO. My most useful skills have come from reading things myself, thinking, personal experience, and observing others. Not from being taught by an academic.

 

It would be different if you were talking about a profession like a doctor or lawyer. There you need to pass the relevant exam simply to have the right to practise, so you need to conform to the way things are done. But in business all that matters is do you make money - everything else is irrelevant. In the arts world all that matters is can you create something that will appeal to people. In the more open and free career paths, I'm not convinced that your school/university education makes the blindest bit of difference.

How can you say that any form of learning is a waste? Didn't you enjoy learning, for what it was?

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mental_traveller
How can you say that any form of learning is a waste? Didn't you enjoy learning, for what it was?

 

It was a waste in the sense that I could have spent that time doing something more valuable. Life is short, after all.

 

I do enjoy learning. I just don't consider most degree courses, let alone high school, to be learning in the true sense of the world. I only really achieved good understanding of my subjects after I left university and started studying them in earnest by myself. That's why I say that 90% of what I learned and found useful and enlightening came from outside the classroom.

 

So yeah, I value learning, as long as you are learning something useful and meaningful to you. I just think that the typical modern "education" is not that much about learning, and more about people jumping through society-approved academic hoops so they can be more easily categorised by the employment market when they graduate. That's not the path to true knowledge or understanding.

 

I'd like to see the education system move away from textbook rote-learning, and have more direct observation, experimenting, and hands-on learning by experience. Boxers get taught by sparring, working out, and having coaches show them time-tested techniques. They don't get herded into a lecture hall, given a book "how to box" and told to read it and take notes. Medical students have to practise on corpses and then attend actual operations. Yet somehow universities think you can teach 18 year olds economics or law without them ever buying and selling goods or attending a trial - just get them to read a few books and apparently that is sufficient. No surprise then that people graduate with book learning but no real understanding or experience of their subjects.

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Trialbyfire
It was a waste in the sense that I could have spent that time doing something more valuable. Life is short, after all.

 

I do enjoy learning. I just don't consider most degree courses, let alone high school, to be learning in the true sense of the world. I only really achieved good understanding of my subjects after I left university and started studying them in earnest by myself. That's why I say that 90% of what I learned and found useful and enlightening came from outside the classroom.

 

So yeah, I value learning, as long as you are learning something useful and meaningful to you. I just think that the typical modern "education" is not that much about learning, and more about people jumping through society-approved academic hoops so they can be more easily categorised by the employment market when they graduate. That's not the path to true knowledge or understanding.

 

I'd like to see the education system move away from textbook rote-learning, and have more direct observation, experimenting, and hands-on learning by experience. Boxers get taught by sparring, working out, and having coaches show them time-tested techniques. They don't get herded into a lecture hall, given a book "how to box" and told to read it and take notes. Medical students have to practise on corpses and then attend actual operations. Yet somehow universities think you can teach 18 year olds economics or law without them ever buying and selling goods or attending a trial - just get them to read a few books and apparently that is sufficient. No surprise then that people graduate with book learning but no real understanding or experience of their subjects.

While I understand what you're saying, without the education, would you have known what, where and how to look for it? I find that my education is a useful base to draw on. The theory is there. Application of theory, in non-idealized situations, is what sets you apart from the crowd.

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mental_traveller
WOW.. I can't believe this.. education is ALWAYS beneficial... since when is it wasteful?

 

Nobody can say that they are TOO educated.. :laugh: that would be weird...

 

My daughter's bio father had the equivalent of 3 PhD.. but never went for his freaken thesis.. did he waste his time.. I don't think so..

 

But he was an educated jerk! :laugh:

 

You seem to be assuming that education has no costs, which is obviously not the case. Every year you spend in education, is a year not spent doing other things. Do you wanna learn about history (for example) in a classroom for 20 years? Or do you at some point want to go out and either write books or make TV programmes about it (i.e. actually be a historian, rather than a history student). Or better still, go out and actually make some history!

 

We aren't immortal, therefore every time we do something, we are sacrificing other opportunities we could have pursued. For most people, spending the next year in education would not only cost them a lot in tuition fees, it would also mean they earned no salary. That's a pretty steep price to pay. And that's before you even consider that after a point, education is 95% done and you're only really going to learn more by actually *doing* what it is you studied all that time for. Doctors become good doctors by performing lots of operations, not by staying in med school until they are 40.

 

Doing something is the best way to learn about it. Education is overrated.

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mental_traveller
While I understand what you're saying, without the education, would you have known what, where and how to look for it? I find that my education is a useful base to draw on. The theory is there. Application of theory, in non-idealized situations, is what sets you apart from the crowd.

 

In my case yes - I pretty much got my inspiration and, later on, knowledge from things I pursued outside school. I think a good library or bookstore is a more valuable educational resource than school or university. I agree with applying the theory, but IMO this is something you learn by doing "on the job", not by studying in a classroom.

 

I have a higher opinion of the more pragmatic, hands-on education like med school, law school, MBA courses etc. Because they actually have to turn out people who can competently perform an operation, defend or prosecute someone in a trial, or run a business, they can't afford to be so sloppy. Unfortunately the same does not apply for your typical 20 year old liberal arts graduate - as long as they have the piece of paper at the end of the final year, the job's done as far as student and university are concerned.

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