"The Great University Con"

versh

versh

Well-known member

Manchester’s Student Revolt

After going on rent strike and tearing down fences on campus, students at the University of Manchester have begun an occupation. Their aim: to confront a university sector which sees them as little more than cash cows.
tribunemag.co.uk tribunemag.co.uk
 
sus

sus

Moderator
Yeah for this and many reasons, Bernie-like pushes for government subsidy seems like throwing water on an oil fire—you cover that shit up, let it run out of air.

The problem is 4-year education is a big indicator of being able to get into and complete 4-year. Which—sure, you need costly signals for competing parties (job applicants, hiring boards) to communicate and navigate high-risk decisions. But it's an enormous amount of capital to pour into something that's much easier to assess and credential on a curve.
 
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sus

sus

Moderator
There's a pretty wild book by Michael Sauder & Wendy Espeland, Engines of Anxiety, about how law schools rig statistics to improve their US News rankings. Pretty crazy stuff, on the borderlands between dishonest and criminal—but it makes sense if what you're selling to clients is a prestige ranking.
 
sus

sus

Moderator
I liked my uni experience, and I met some good people, but not a shred of it helps me do my job, or be employable in anyway beyond signaling a baseline level of intelligence.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
I've never met anyone who came out of university smarter than they went in. Everyone has been radically diminished by the experience. Me and version didn't go. We are untainted.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Yeah but she had no interest in intelligence per se. That wasn't the point of the thing. The point was to have a life. One where you get to test your strength and develop your competence and make a contribution to society at large. Pull you weight and get involved.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
It's done Jim the world of good too but he was almost 50 when he went. It rejuvenated him.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
luka said:
But we are all outside of life. That's the point of dissensus. It's for people outside of life, who have been barred from entry and have been forced to make a virtue of the fact.
Click to expand...
Contre le monde, contre la vie
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I skimmed this and it made me wonder if I'm anywhere near as smart as I've always thought I am, mainly based on achieving high academic grades throughout school and university.

And that's kind of irritating, because it suggests that if I'd gone to university back in the 70s or whatever (or I'd gone to Oxford/Cambridge instead of Nottingham, e.g.) I'd have been put through my paces a bit more and would probably be smarter now as a result.

Still, I loved the university experience and I'd jump at the chance to go again.

Reading this basically put the nail in the coffin of my academic aspirations, though.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Corpsey I'm eagerly awaiting your contributions to two threads made especially for you, the Skyrim thread and the pit thread stop wasting your time here please, this is a boring thread.
 
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