Apr '22 (edited) in Other
Don't go to College (Read these books instead)
Why do we go to college?
Is college there to
• teach you how to think?
• farm minor league athletes?
• promote scientific research?
One of the (many) problems of American universities is that they try to do all these things and much more. (while sinking our youth into a lifetime of debt)
I went to a classic American liberal arts college.
The goal of a liberal arts education is to
"build students into freethinkers, open communicators, knowledgeable citizens, and respectable individuals." - Lyon College
If you went to college too, is this the outcome you got?
From first-hand experience, most of my classmates were more interested in partying than becoming "knowledgeable citizens" or "respectable individuals."
Actually, they used the word "degenerate" (the opposite of a respectable individual) as a term of endearment like bro or buddy. (I wrote a blog about this here)
Listen, college was fun, and I'm thankful for the experience. And in many ways, it's better than sitting at home, especially for networking.
But if the goal of college is to teach you to be a reasonable, knowledgeable thinker, there are better (and extremely cheaper options).
One of those options is the Great Mental Model series from Farnam Street.
Filling your brain with useful mental models across diverse disciplines is like loading your toolbox up with a range of tools.
You can't be sure when you will need them, but it doesn't hurt to have them.
“Developing the habit of mastering the multiple models which underlie reality is the best thing you can do.” — Charlie Munger
Lastly, I am not totally against university. Like Sam Ovens has said, if you have no idea what you want to do it's probably better than sitting at home, and if I hadn't gone to college, I couldn't have gotten a Fulbright scholarship to live in Germany.
But the main point is:
University is not a magic pill; Stop waiting for someone or some institution to save you.
You have all the tools you need to educate yourself right now on the internet.
Comment your best online educational resources below. I'll go first
2
2 comments
Don't go to College (Read these books instead)
Public group
Create content. Make money. Educate earth.
Join the Synthesizer Movement.
Leaderboard (30-day)
1
+74
2
+70
3
+68
4
+59
5
+57
powered by