Education

Yes, according to Thomas Sowell. I'm inclined to agree. Briefly,

1. Unless you're in a science or engineering field where you have to do experiments and stuff, college doesn't make you smarter. Or, at least, it doesn't fill you with $120,000 worth of knowledge. In America, with so many resources available, a person serious about learning, will. Sure, he won't be able to get drunk every night or attend Spring Sing, but he could go to the library, attend lectures, or engage in other "educational" activities. How many of you non-science majors over the age of thirty can say that they learned most of what they know in college? I learned more about grammar in the year I've been blogging than the four I spent at UCLA.

Follow up:

2. Those statistics that show how much more college graduates make are suspect, to say the least. Maybe the people who go to college would have made the same amount without a B.A. Maybe it's really the fact that a college graduate is usually somebody who's willing to delay gratification and work towards a goal. Maybe they're just smarter. I find it hard to believe that the anthropology major working in IT learned networking from the Yanomamo.

3. I like college. Who wouldn't? But, we need to examine how to make learning, and not "college," a goal. It would sure save a lot of money.

See here for more.