[ExI] Eventbrite/Zoom addiction!

Fri Nov 20 18:00:22 UTC 2020

The problem with not attending college:  you can be a plumber or whatever,
make good money, get married, have kids, go into debt and so on.  Those
courses in college you were interested in, well, you can go online and take
them free.  But will you?  I am guessing most will not.  They are just too
busy.  This is also how you will lose many of your friends - you will think
of them, but while you are changing the baby.  No time.

College is a time where you are given free time - and lots of it - to think
as well as study - to meet people (where are you going to meet people after
college if you have not acquired a mate?  It's a big problem).  You are
forced, required, to take some courses you might not like.  You will not be
doing that if you don't go to college.  And like most required courses
before college, you really needed them though you didn't know it at the
time (like those guys who were trying to apply circle math to right
triangles in my previous post).  You will encounter tons of stuff people
who don't go to college will never hear of.  Maybe most of that is wasted
on you, but you might find some hobbies, some genre of literature, that you
wouldn't have otherwise.  And so on.  Yes, the debt is a big problem.

But the people who dropped out of college to work, or get married and have
kids, rarely come back, though nearly all of them will say they want to.
(But when they do, they are among the best students because now they are
more mature and know the value of study and how to do it.)

I am still a big advocate of college, with all its defects and cost.  Some
will go through it and not change a bit.  Like the cliche' - you get out of
it what you put into it.
bill w

On Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 11:45 AM John Grigg via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
> 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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> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
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