[ExI] Eventbrite/Zoom addiction!

[John Grigg]

Spike wrote:

"We already do this in Boy Scouts.  We have a network of parent volunteers
who counsel the guys and talk about whatever they want to learn, never one
on one, but anything including stuff outside of scouting, such as time
management, buying a car (my specialty) college advice, that kinda thing.
Scouts are a joy to work with: they are already motivated.  It is easy to
motivate those who take the initiative, come to the adult, ask questions
and listen to your answers.  I can help save them from plenty of goofball
mistakes, one of the most serious ones being to choose the wrong first car."



I was a scout, and that sounds along the lines of being a merit badge
counselor. But actually different, because you talk to them as a group
about whatever they want to learn about. I had a scoutmaster in Alaska who
was not motivated to really help us, though an affable guy, and we mainly
just played basketball. But after I aged out, he was replaced by a former
Air Force fighter pilot/commercial airline pilot who owned a small plane
large enough to take the entire troop anywhere he wanted! Oh, did I envy
those guys! Lol


My best friend during my teen years, bought a $500 used car where the floor
boards had huge gaping holes in them! But other than that, the vehicle ran
like a Swiss clock. Our first weekend running around, it starts to rain,
and I am screaming for him to slow down so we don't get hammered by water
splashing through the floor boards! Lol Later on, the application of duct
tape and polyethylene sheets fixed our dilemma.


"Regarding college choices, oh this is a tricky time for students.  Our
world is in a rapid transition time, but it isn’t entirely clear where we
are transitioning to."


I keep hearing people saying to not bother with college unless you want to
become a specific type of professional, but such advice doesn't sit well
with me. I would say go, but do your best to not go into debt, or at least
keep it well under control. And I think joining the military to get the
G.I. Bill is a good thing for those who want to serve their country. And of
course the major a person chooses, will hugely determine the value of their
degree. But not everyone is cut out to get a stem degree.


The Mormon Church has what they call the Pathways Program which allows
people, including non-members, to attend online college for very little
money. The curriculum comes from Brigham Young University-Idaho. I think
this is one of the coolest things the church has ever done, and an amazing
achievement. You are charged based on where you live. In the U.S. a person
pays only nine thousand dollars for a bachelor's degree, while in the
Philippines, it is only around two thousand dollars for the same thing!
The number of majors is limited, but they recently started offering IT
degrees. I am now feeling tempted to go back to school and finish up.


And of course a trade such as being a plumber or electrician can be very
profitable. And in fact, they get paid for learning, rather than be charged
for it, as with college! Lol I have a buddy who knew himself, skipped
college, and got a welding certification. After a few years doing factory
work welding, he joined the pipefitter's union and graduated from an
apprenticeship. The guy now makes solid money, owns a beautiful home,
drives a nice truck and has no student debts. Ironically, his various
girlfriends over the years have had liberal arts college degrees, lots of
debt, and don't own their own homes or drive nice cars.He is so far a
confirmed bachelor.

I had a young friend who got a stem "fusion" degree from ASU. It was
something brand new at the time. The curriculum developers there like to be
creative and different, so they basically combined an electrical
engineering degree with a computer science degree. It was essentially half
of each, so that the graduate had one foot in the world of engineering, and
another foot in the world of comp sci. Well, when he graduated, the poor
guy found that employers were not thrilled with his degree, because they
wanted both his feet clearly planted in one or the other of the two
subjects he studied! Lol Eventually he did okay, but he went through a long
frustrating period of rejection.

On the other hand, while perusing Eventbrite, I came upon a panel where
they discussed how certain high tech employers are very concerned that the
young stem grads they hire will not know enough about the triad of quantum
physics, electrical engineering and computer science, as it relates to the
development of quantum computers. Yes, this is a tricky time for even the
best and brightest!

John

On Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 9:41 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> *From:* extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> *On Behalf
> Of *John Grigg via extropy-chat
> *…*
>
>
>
> >…I assume a life coach is a generalist, not a specialist like people who
> give advice on jobs or investments or buying a car.  bill w
>
>
>
> >…I would say life coaching is actually a good example of a profession
> being enhanced by technology. It did exist before video calls and social
> media, but due to these innovations, life coaches can now connect with
> clients from around the world, and have an easier time growing their
> careers and making a living….John
>
>
>
>
>
> We already do this in Boy Scouts.  We have a network of parent volunteers
> who counsel the guys and talk about whatever they want to learn, never one
> on one, but anything including stuff outside of scouting, such as time
> management, buying a car (my specialty) college advice, that kinda thing.
> Scouts are a joy to work with: they are already motivated.  It is easy to
> motivate those who take the initiative, come to the adult, ask questions
> and listen to your answers.  I can help save them from plenty of goofball
> mistakes, one of the most serious ones being to choose the wrong first car.
>
>
>
> Regarding college choices, oh this is a tricky time for students.  Our
> world is in a rapid transition time, but it isn’t entirely clear where we
> are transitioning to.
>
>
>
> spike
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
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