Comment by foolrush | Hacker News Reader

Comment by foolrush | Hacker News Reader

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While plausible, there is an aspect of a filter bubble / confirmation bias you are ignoring that comes with a formal degree. In particular, liberal arts degrees.

Being forced to look beyond one's bubble is extremely rewarding. Being forced to tackle trying tomes of knowledge that test the will may be the only chance one can have to learn on certain topics.

The whole “skip university” trope is a sad meme to push were it only for these reasons.

It is sadder still when one performs a reducto ad absurdun where the sole metric is formal education as monetary gain.

Where would our culture be without music, literature, philosophy, and art? Is there value in studying these worlds beyond monetary gain?

What sort of an elevated impact might the brilliant minds around HN offer with a diverse and eclectic formal education?

I believe the "skip university" trope is sad. I also believe "everyone has to go to college" is sad. There is a huge disparity between universities -- I went to an average state university, and in most aspects I firmly believe it was more damaging to my being than helpful (it has been over 5 years since I graduated and I am still realizing and overcoming personal problems that I believe were partly inculcated in me from college and K-12).

My sisters went to decent liberal arts universities and, through observation, believe theirs to much more worthwhile. Of course each person is different, so others may not have had as worthless of an experience as I did.

Point being that (although I can't back this up) I'm pretty sure no university is better than 50%+ of universities out there, and so the endless expectation bias is often harmful.

Since all my other comments are quite negative, I'll take a moment to defend the OP here.

Notice their justification begins with "I find I learn best...". Sounds like perhaps the best way to justify a decision about one's education.

As for breadth, it's true. College makes accumulating these experiences very easily. Luckily, there are lots of smart people out there for anyone who might want to broaden their horizons while not attending college. In fact, part of the point of college is realizing this is true and figuring out how to benefit from these opportunities.

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