Yes, college teaches you critical thinking

Often, you see people posting the idea of the education system not teaching critical thinking. While I know the education system is not always optimal, I don't know what colleges these people went to, but at least in my college it was one of the basic competences and prerequisites. I'm sure that people who attended and completed college in any serious way know this as well. It seems that the former statement mostly comes from people who got stuck in high school or the ignorant masses.

Misinformation is such a pity.

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PepsiColaP

I think college/university is in most cases essential. I really dislike seeing people advocate against it in the premise of 'you can still make it in life/get a good job/look at bill gates etc' . Yeah you certainly can still get a good job, although statistically your changes are less than those with a degree and life is not just about a good job, but also the skills you develop through your studies and then go on to apply in your every day life and as a member of a society. Also you still see bill gates putting his kids to the most prestige colleges despite emphasizing his own decision to drop out to the public. Why do you think that is lol.

Existentior · M

@PepsiColaP Well said. It seems to be the trend to advocate against, sadly.

In my own experience, for a long time I have been through trying job search without a degree (or even just a community college one) and 100% of the time companies requested a Bachelors minimum, so I went for it and got my Bachelors after. Without it, people had no respect for me. With it, I get invited for interviews. The depressing part - as we all know - is that the market got even more academically saturated and the bar got raised even higher; what used to be 2 years experience required is now 5 years minimum, skills bring optional are now mandatory; it's a mess.

Definitely, the invaluable skills garnered and matured in college increased the quality of my life ten-fold.

Aside from all that, yeah, Bill wants control. lol

PepsiColaP

@Existentior the job market is definitely more competitive ,not just because more adults entering are now more academically qualified than say 10-20-30 years ago, but by numbers alone there's more of us competing now than 10-20-30 yrs ago ,which is however due to decrease with decreasing fertility and birth rates . Still,statistically college graduates are more likely to secure skilled jobs/higher paying jobs.
However like you say in your post education it is not just about employment but the skills you develop for yourself and that reflects in society ,and especially politics.

Existentior · M

@PepsiColaP That's right, as a seasoned tech person myself I'm competing against certain groups of tech people who went above and beyond; they have side projects, top grades and recommendations. I've noticed that people in my field are burning out quickly due to this constant high pressure to outperform each other and stay up to date with the tech craze that's going at insane speeds; at some point a person wants to have their own life and hobbies and have some balance.

Hm, decreasing fertility? I didn't know about that one, but I think it makes sense.

Yes, the tech job market has gone crazy. I have a Bachelors. Oh, not enough apparently? They prefer Masters now. What's next? Doctorates? It's getting close... lol. I'm already a high-performing guy, but now that's becoming more and more the norm. The fact that these college graduates are more likely to secure these skilled/higher paying jobs is out there indeed, with companies eager to save a quick dollar by hiring their technical prowess through an internship, underpaying them once they're in the role... it's a disgrace. Next to that, I've seen people with community college degrees get depressed because no one would hire them, as companies always asked for Bachelors minimum. Sometimes they get lucky with connections, but still. People think little side projects and motivation alone is enough... and I've experienced it not being the case, which is a hard pill to swallow. You can have all the motivation you want, but real life is not Disney and no one will care. Indeed...

Yes indeed, the multidisciplinary skills reflect on the quality of our system. Easy examples are conflict avoidance through correct communication, multidisciplinary meetings through cross-cutting insights, more autonomy, etc.