The Uselessness of 'Education' and the Liberal Arts

[dr1345]

liberal arts degree is useless if you have no talent. but if you're a gifted writer liberal arts can help you to become better.

[eurohim]

I started going the normal college route, starting in a community college with plans to transfer to a four year university. I quickly (within the first year) saw all of the classes I had to take as pointless. I then just started taking all of the IT courses they had available and that gave me a start that has kept me employed in my industry for 10 years now. Practicality is everything. I'd say that liberal arts people are idiots in all subjects. You can learn all that stuff at home for fun.

[guitarmessiah95]

I'm not much of a science or math person i find both of the subjects really boring. I know I love english and history though. Would it be practical for me to study politcal science and go on to law school? I know i'll do well in that subject because it's something I like to do. If I took something like computer science or enigneering my grades would sink because they bore me ...

[eurohim]

@guitarmessiah95 There are more people in law school than there are working lawyers.

[ApollosInsight]

Another subject that is useless is Women and Gender studies. This subject is filled w/ nothing but stupidity, prejudice, and a powerful vehicle of indoctrinating women how they're still "victims" and are still "oppressed".

So, instead of basing their education on what's observed, practical and empirical, the foundation of this subject is completely baseless and abstract.

Try talking to a "graduate" from there, and you'll soon question where her ability to reason went.

[ApollosInsight]

Another subject that is useless is Women and Gender studies. This subject is filled w/ nothing but stupidity, prejudice, and a powerful vehicle of indoctrinating women how they're still "victims" and are still "oppressed".

So, instead of basing their education on what's observed, practical and empirical, the foundation of this subject is completely baseless and abstract.

Try talking to a "graduate" from there, and you'll soon question where her ability to reason went.

[StarduskLP]

@ApollosInsight Yes, the most useless of all probably.

[patriciacarrasco]

this country's gonna go down eventually who are we kidding? wats the point of school in the long run?i feel like quitting right now

[seinfan9]

4: One other thing that irks me is the requirement for every major of taking liberal arts classes. What in the hell am I, a computer engineer, going to do with classical Greek mythology and psychology? Yes, the classes were interesting in some aspects, but I feel it's a waste of money when I don't even want to take those classes and simply take the classes that actually pertain to what I'm at the university for.

[seinfan9]

3: No form of federal or state financial aid should be given to them. The sort of criteria for grants and loans should be more discriminatory in terms of the major and college/university. Somebody majoring in electrical engineering going to MIT should be given a lot more money than someone majoring in communications going to Texas State University, you know. All of the unpaid loans is a huge reason why the federal government is losing money.

[seinfan9]

2: It really makes me laugh whenever I hear them whine about it, and then talk about how drunk they got last week and what kind of shit they're going to do in the coming weekend. It also pisses me off that those same students waste scholarship, grant, and loan money (that they probably won't be able to pay back) on something that can easily be learned in a public library. I don't mind that the liberal arts exist, but it should be restricted to academic enrichment.

[seinfan9]

1: The mindset of the majority of liberal arts majors, from what I've gathered, is definitely what you said: they bought into the myth that simply having a degree will guarantee them a good paying job. A lot of them picked something they thought would be easy and they party every weekend. When it comes to exam time, they cram and they complain that their government class is difficult. I'm a computer engineer busting my ass with differential equations, circuit theory, programming etc.

[SManEasy]

You can learn computer programming from a book as well. You cannot get an intellectual discussion pertaining to topics in the liberal arts from a library book.

[eurohim]

@SManEasy There's a bunch of kids from Purdue who put COM100 videos up for a class assignment describing why someone should hire a liberal arts major and they all sound like clones of each other and totally mindless. They can debate online instead of in classrooms. You'll get more variation that way.

[MrBrian987987]

Yeah! I agree with you on the problem, but! what is the solution? Are you saying that one must find one's niche? What advice can you give a teen-ager today?

[ViciousRanger]

Learning a trade is a great idea. I've heard of tilers ( People who lay tile in people's kitchen floors ) making 100,000+ a year.

When you get a job you're really relying on somebody be willing to hire you, and you are at that person's mercy. Maybe they don't want to pay you what you're worth? Maybe they don't want to give you the hours you need.

When you go into self employment yeah it'll be hard, but I consider that to be true freedom.

[FaidleyEthan]

If your studies were worthless than choose better studies, idiot

[FaidleyEthan]

This man has been broken like a horse and brainwashed into giving up. Liberal arts is exactly the thing that students need.

[MadArtistsProduction]

what a waste of my 10 minutes.

[Mike3303]

You mentioned law. Most lawyers have liberal arts degrees and it's pretty much impossible to maintain the GPA necessary for a top law school without majoring in one of these fields (Harvard and Yale expect 3.8+s). Also, school prestige does matter. A graduate from a top 20 university with a liberal arts degree, even in this economy, will probably be OK, provided they get internships and work experience. But yah, the typical humanities kid at XYZ state school is probably fucked.

[noguhd06]

@Mike3303 lol @ the harsh comparison

[amazinero]

Dude, you're not a failure. You're fucking with the wrong people. Fuck with the people who'll fuck with you.

[patriciacarrasco]

@amazinero i agree, u have more than many other people, dont think of urself this way uve done a lot in life

[coldfirenj]

You said what I have been thinking for as long as I have been in college (senior now)..

[Harpenboper]

Thank you so much I really needed to hear this.

[shmiggen]

Life dealt our generation a pretty fucked up card. My best friend lives in a tiny apartment in Korea, where he teaches english. None of my friends are married, some were, then divorced. Everyone rents. My dad graduated in late 60's to immediate jobs. Also, women are competing for the top 5% of socially dominant males. Looks like 95% of us will never have a wife. You're not alone, buddy.  Anyway, at the very least your education bought you a breadth of knowledge and a sense of humour.

[Stardusk]

@shmiggen Haha. I worked in Korea for over 2 years; I have a BA and an MA and am living with my parents at 32. Good times!

[5tonyvvvv]

@Stardusk Dude most of what u learn in college is useless Bullshit.college classes that have nothing to do with your career or field its high school for adults and dorks..start your own business dont be a sheep..

[5tonyvvvv]

@Stardusk i agree with what your sayin,but here in manhattan to be a lawyer or doctor its near impossible the competition is so insane from other law firms.and medical degrees..u might as well learn a practical trade job.or get your contracting license and open your own business,unless u come from a rich family..u have no chance in huge cities like NY..or LA....most people cant get through law and medical school classes most teachers will fail u if your work is not perfect..we live in a ASSHOLE

[5tonyvvvv]

@Stardusk colleges are making it this way,,your gunna need a PHD,,to work at mcdonalds

[amazinero]

@Stardusk . But you ARE quite the conversationalist, I'm sure. You're probably also a tortured soul because of your knowledge of romance, world issues, and themes on humanity that mast people do not have time to care about. I, too am a tortured soul because I care not for the latest cellphone and am not good at avoiding eye contact on trains. Simplicity is my saving grace. Sufficient shelter, music production, sex sometimes, and healthy food is enough.

[shmiggen]

I had to respond because I am returning to school after a long absence. I'm 40 and completing a degree in literature. However, for the past twelve years I've been a ship's crewmember, which paid well. I just need a break from the sea. But I do get where you're coming from. We're probably about the same age. I'll never own a home, and my degree is for my own personal satisfaction. I'll still be unemployable with a BA, so I'll just go back to sea.

[TDP788]

You say, "It's not going to do anything for you." But you are implying that it puts you in debt and that it won't be profitable as a degree. Are there not nonmaterialistic reasons for attaining a degree? I consider it useless to toil away in some factory or office, no matter how practical. I would be more happy doing nothing at all, no matter how much money I had.

[Stardusk]

Nonmateralistic reasons? Meh. There shouldn't be and that is the point of what I am saying. If you don't mind starving and living in a cardboard box I guess it doesn't matter.

[Spacemonkey2084]

So true.

And like someone else said: Knowing where you're going before you start helps *so* much.

I was lucky in the sense that I came back to school *after* working shitty jobs living on my own so when I came back it was because I wanted work I could live my life doing. Chose my major for marketability.

Too many kids hit college without ever experiencing the shit that is the real world. They don't envision life after school because it isn't real to them yet.

[gramblor1]

I totally agree with you. People don't take college for what it really is an investment. Rather, they think it's a rite of passage, where on the other end is automatic prosperity and acceptance. Does anyone ever consider that spending $100,000 on 4 years of 'education' is wildly speculative and won't necessarily amount to a good return? Of course not. But they'll meet so many life-long friends there, so it's all worth it.

[Stardusk]

Indeed. 100% in agreement.

[FantasmaBAnco]

I combined my liberal arts degree with a degree in Education; liberal arts can take you somewhere, but I think you have to consider which direction you're going in BEFORE signing up for the undergraduate degree. A lot of people just think: "Well, this interests me, I'll see where it takes me" without considering their destination.

[Stardusk]

Good point...directionality is important...

[PardoDub]

Good vid.

A lot of practical stuff is worthless too though.

I kind of fell into construction industry and went and did a BSc in cad and construction. So I ended up working for engineers and architects, learnt a lot about both but without specialising in either always got paid a lot less.

Didn't like it either but it paid bills before collapse. Unemployable now, I wish I had known when I was 20 that construction is first to go and last to recover when a depression comes.

[Stardusk]

I should have mentioned skills in demand but that is of course implied by useful or practical. I know too many people who have gone my path and ended up fucking up...

[PardoDub]

Sorry, if I came across as nit picking that wasn't my intention. Just adding my 2 cents. Pretty much everyone I know is on the dole. Have you considered going back to edu and starting again?

[Stardusk]

I have done. In fact I have two possible precise plans but who knows if they will work.