I'm not trying to say that's the only reason you should go to college -- meeting smart people is simply one of many reasons. There are a lot of valuable payoffs that come with minimal risk, like the degree itself. And there are plenty of good colleges you can go to that don't cost 100k.

If going to college was truly not worth it, then you'd see a lot more people not doing it. The fact that going to college is a such a common course of action says that people actually find value in it (or there's a giant inefficiency in the market -- which is the argument of this article, but I think it's worth considering the alternative as well).

And I don't think the lottery analogy works. Regardless of what you (legally) do, you can't influence the chance that a single lottery ticket of yours wins. But you can improve the chance that certain low-probability events happen to you (like founding a successful startup) by your actions. And I think going to a good college can be one of those actions for many people.