[ExI] antiscience from both sides

[SR Ballard]

I think traditional campuses will always be needed. But I don’t think they need to be as big as they are.

I’m jealous of people like (apparently) yourself who see no difference between digital products and physical ones, or between typing and writing. I don’t know about Zoomers who grew up with it, but for all the rest of us, our brains process these two things differently. 

Despite my interest in using technology for things, sometimes pen and paper just ... “feels better”. Sure, my grocery list is on my phone but my diary isn’t. The only people I send printed letters to are politicians. 

When I read a book on paper, I engage with it differently than I do on a computer. I remember paper books better. 

Most of my peers and the Zoomers I work with agree that the experience is different. But I’ve never asked which they prefer and why. The main reason I use electronic books is price. If I can get a PDF, I’ll just print it at home, or through office max. For things I’m not studying (that is, things I read for leisure) electronic is fine.

For me, taking online classes is horrible. I force myself into it. But I hate every moment of it. It has no redeeming qualities. It’s not even cheaper. The most you could say is that it is “convenient”. But group projects online are even worse than “IRL”. 

I can do it with maximum effort only, even if the class is easy.

SR Ballard

> On May 7, 2020, at 1:18 PM, spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> > On Behalf Of Dylan Distasio via extropy-chat
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> Subject: Re: [ExI] antiscience from both sides
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> >>… I think student debt is the next bubble to burst… Will
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> >…Unfortunately, it needs to be burst, and the federal backstop on student loans needs to be removed.   Between the pressure on universities from CV-19 and removing the federal loan backstop, you would see tuition prices drop in a hurry… Dylan
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> Think of all the opportunities we are now seeing for doing education waaaay the heck cheaper than has been done before.  The online learning has proven highly effective for some students, and doesn’t cost much of anything.
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> Another take on it: a large and growing cost associated with schools is the legal liability.  With online learning, that goes away.  Most of the facilities cost goes away.  Consider Khan Academy, oh excellent resource, free to all comers, runs on donations.  Think of the cost/benefit of that.  If we have an effective way to measure students’ progress, we wouldn’t really need traditional campuses.
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> spike
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