uncle moron

"education is not skills training," i said, in a comment thread belonging to a friend i served with who's struggling to decide if a philosophy degree is a good idea.

"since when?" asked her uncle.

actually, since forever. the fact that people go to university to get a piece of paper to get a job is a by-product of the industrial age, and even during the past century it's been noted that regardless of what you studied you still need on-the-job training, telling us that the master-apprentice system employed by the greeks, the romans and renaissance europe is the only one of any value. and besides the fact that the academy is founded on humanities and sciences (which, ask any physicist, is a terrible degree for getting a job), now that we're in the information age acquiring practical skills is almost as easy as using google.

"i think we agree more than we disagree." [here he responds at length and in a manner that demonstrates that he understands nothing of university education. i'm not quoting him out of kindness, to you and to him, he really comes across as clueless and his arguments are frustratingly irrational]

long story short, we don't agree. education's practical value is in broadening one's horizons and understanding of reality, inner subjective and outer objective. the tools acquired in any degree are invaluable. your examples are highly localized and anecdotal and while i'm sorry to hear that your son couldn't find a job i'm certain that that's got nothing to do with his choice of studies. the university shouldn't be a business but you're right, it is; although that doesn't mean that students can't get an education anyway. there are fields like medicine and law which make your case, but it'll be a sad, sad day when universities start teaching mechanics and real estate agents; those are perfect examples of careers which don't require degrees.

all the humanities are good choices, as are all the sciences. the others are good for specific careers. at the end of the day, you can study what you like and your world will only be the better for it. you can also study what you don't like, and your world will be better for it but considering the fact that life's too short to suffer for nothing and that our global economy is rapidly changing and notions of value and "practical" are no more valid than the entire marketing industry, it is my opinion that anything not personally fulfilling would be a waste.

my point is that everyone who can afford the privilege of academic studies should feel free to choose what seems right to them, one can never know what's right except in hindsight and chasing other people's dreams will hopefully become a thing of our nightmare past. the virtual economy is starting to take off and it has space enough and jobs enough for anyone willing to make the effort.