education system

education system [+ favourites]

i understand that colleges want their students to have a well-rounded education upon receiving their degree-but is it worth the problems it causes? i am talking about having to take prerequisites that have nothing to do with the desired major. i am speaking out of experience. i am not a math person, and am so horrible with numbers that i have never got above a c in a math class-it is just a natural disability. on the other hand, i am very gifted with language, and usually get As in any subject that is language oriented-i.e. english, social studies, psychology, etc. anyway, i am majoring in psychology and have all As and Bs-except i dont know if i will ever be able to get a C in my college algebra class(actually i am pretty sure i will eventually, but for some people, this may not be the case). wouldn't it be a bunch of bs if all i had to do to complete my degree was to get a C in college algebra and that is it, yet i couldn't do it? the fact is that a lot of people have similar problems to those i have, but even more severe. perhaps there is someone who is an absolute genius at math, like a regular newton-but who just couldn't figure out how to write a decent paper, no matter how hard he studied and tried. this person, who has incredible potential to help humanity in some great way, will probably get discouraged and drop out of college and not pursue education. im sure that this has happened a lot because of the strict prerequisite requirements at colleges, and i don't think that making sure students have a well-rounded education is worth losing so many potential geniuses.

"You are reading this."

if a person is truly smart, they dont need a piece of paper telling themsevles or others this fact. people still "make it" without even finishing high school when they are truly smart and have something to offer to society. i do think its BS tho, cuz life seems to be a lot easier with that dumb piece of paper.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

Einstein did not graduate from high school. But Einstein did not live in the year 2004, unfortunately you do. Because employers recognize that college students can learn faster and conceptualize means that you will have an increased chance at getting a good job if you have a college degree.

It's college! Go out have a beer, drown your 'sorrows' of not being able to pass the test/class w/ a C or better, then get a tutor and take it again. You're there for a short few years, live it up, do not let one single class effect your state of mind. There's plenty of time after college to figure out the logic of life that is mathamatics.

"Morals here. Get your morals. Only cost...your freedom."

I think it is becoming easier and easier to succeed without any sort of certification nowadays. It is a more difficult path, however, and relies solely on your abilities.

I would like to say that those that rely on college to succeed are in fact those that are less intelligent, because the piece of paper they receive will protect them in situations where a non-graduate would only have skills to navigate.

That being said, I think nowadays graduates are easy to come by and based on my knowledge of peers as well as myself, having a degree doesn't make your career any more certified. Experience is almost an exact substitute.

To me, four years of my life is too long a time to spend learning stuff I will forget and never use simply to be able to guarrantee a potential employer that I can indeed bury my head into mundane tasks and forego that little voice that screams at me to pursue expanding my mind.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

...you are correct Decius but college is more than just a 4 year degree and a job at the end. You are an administrator to a quasi-philosophical website and you have 662 post as I see. Why not go to college and get a philosophy degree where you could have some educational structure built into your arguements by studying and learning what other scholars have discovered. Do you consider yourself a philosopher?

"Morals here. Get your morals. Only cost...your freedom."

I definitely consider myself a philosopher, and I believe that part of my evolution as a philosopher is discovering philosophy as I grow as well as through the environment I interact with. I have no reason to believe that a structured environment such as university will in any way quicken this process or create any more adept a philosopher out of me.

If I am to learn about other scholars, I can read, which I sometimes do.

I am also firmly of the belief that learning through experience is far more educational than learning through an infrastructure meant to teach. And if the subject is philosophy which is so dependant on unbiased perspective, I would rather not corrupt that learning process by saturating my mind with pre-determined notions.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

I agree with you completely. I do not think philosophy is revealed through a textbook. I think philosophy is uncovered through conversation. It's that point in the conversation where both you and the person you're talking with take a deep sigh and stop talking for a few minutes to ponder how you got to the conclusion you had never thought of before that point in time. Sorry about the metaphor, but I see it as the primary form of bring consciousness of a particular subject to surface of the mind through dialogue.

However studying the logic of other philosophers can help you determine where they may have gone wrong in their theories which might later help you to perfect your own philosophies. Reading and structured application are, I think, a great way to speed up the process of doing philosophy. It would be like trying to get to the number 3 and knowing that 1+1 will not cut it. Do you know what I mean?

Sorry to go off topic, I'm going to just make a new thread about this...

Please check it out...

"Morals here. Get your morals. Only cost...your freedom."

I actually do not dissagree that researching other theories and ideas will help you reach greater enlightenment quicker. I just don't necessarily think the education of philosophy in university leads to that, based on my experience of it.

The way I've done it is I've learned as I've thought and yes, definitely discussed and sighed, and every once in a while I feel this thirst to learn about what the world thinks about a certain topic in order to jump into it or build my own ideas around it. It's sort of like waiting for you to need education rather than taking a course in it before you may need it.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."