I will do a statistical deep dive on all this later. But this anti-schooling idea is very counter-intuitive, requires extremely coordinated incompetence to work, and runs extremely counter to my personal experience. With the recent Replication Crisis trashing counterintuitive studies that are used to push political agendas, I suspect anti-schooling is simply untrue.
Let me give a personal example: I currently exercise regularly. It is good for me in many ways. When I first started, however, it was akin to torture, and only self-coercion allowed me to continue. I dreaded my visits to the gym, and feared the pain and nausea that would greet me at every visit. But I pushed myself, most out of vanity and partly out of disdain for my physical weakness. After several months, however, the pain began to fade, and soon I started to enjoy it. Without the self-coercion, I would still be out of shape today.
The same applies to my job. When I first started working, focusing on my job instead of browsing the internet was very painful. And doing it for 8 hours a day made my daily utility became negative—I would have paid money to not experience those days. But through self-coercion, I was able to continue until it first became endurable and then enjoyable. For the first time in my life, I feel free—my sarkic desires and my ambitions are no longer in constant conflict.
This is very under-valued skill. It isn’t sexy. It sucks. And self-coercion can only be taught through external coercion, which sucks even more. I absolutely wish I had more of it as a child.
Requires extremely coordinated incompetence to work.
It’s indeed an incredible waste that higher education is almost entirely a credentialing race; doesn’t mean it requires that much coordination or even incompetence. The root causes are simple (intense government subsidies + a natural race to the bottom to be Most Credentialed among the working class), and could only be fixed by people and institutions which aren’t fired if they govern incorrectly. Biden and Xi are simply optimizing for different things than the general welfare of their constituents. You should read this if you have the time.
For what it’s worth, however counterintuitive you find this, I am fairly certain I find the idea that schooling does anything worth paying for more counterintuitive.
I will do a statistical deep dive on all this later. But this anti-schooling idea is very counter-intuitive, requires extremely coordinated incompetence to work, and runs extremely counter to my personal experience. With the recent Replication Crisis trashing counterintuitive studies that are used to push political agendas, I suspect anti-schooling is simply untrue.
Let me give a personal example: I currently exercise regularly. It is good for me in many ways. When I first started, however, it was akin to torture, and only self-coercion allowed me to continue. I dreaded my visits to the gym, and feared the pain and nausea that would greet me at every visit. But I pushed myself, most out of vanity and partly out of disdain for my physical weakness. After several months, however, the pain began to fade, and soon I started to enjoy it. Without the self-coercion, I would still be out of shape today.
The same applies to my job. When I first started working, focusing on my job instead of browsing the internet was very painful. And doing it for 8 hours a day made my daily utility became negative—I would have paid money to not experience those days. But through self-coercion, I was able to continue until it first became endurable and then enjoyable. For the first time in my life, I feel free—my sarkic desires and my ambitions are no longer in constant conflict.
This is very under-valued skill. It isn’t sexy. It sucks. And self-coercion can only be taught through external coercion, which sucks even more. I absolutely wish I had more of it as a child.
It’s indeed an incredible waste that higher education is almost entirely a credentialing race; doesn’t mean it requires that much coordination or even incompetence. The root causes are simple (intense government subsidies + a natural race to the bottom to be Most Credentialed among the working class), and could only be fixed by people and institutions which aren’t fired if they govern incorrectly. Biden and Xi are simply optimizing for different things than the general welfare of their constituents. You should read this if you have the time.
For what it’s worth, however counterintuitive you find this, I am fairly certain I find the idea that schooling does anything worth paying for more counterintuitive.