B) Go to college, study engineering or business or whatnot, then work in a tech company or even start one yourself
C) Drop out and just start a company straight away
… then the same kind of people might be interested in B) and C), and for them, C) might be better than B). For doctors, there is no equivalent to C) (I don’t think you can really be a “freelance doctor” without any degree). The path to ‘Doctor’ goes through A) only, the path to ‘Tech Entrepreneur’ goes through both B) and C) (The path to “Lawyer” isn’t very branchy either).
Though if you mean, it may still be better for some people who were considering medical school to drop that and go do something else, then I don’t disagree, I don’t know enough about the advantages of various careers.
(I’m having trouble figuring out whether we are disagreeing, and if so, about what)
I don’t think you can really be a “freelance doctor” without any degree
You can’t, but basically I’m wondering whether Thiel means that as the only reason why “the time and cost of four years of college may be worth it”, or if he also thinks that the educational value justifies it.
For doctors, there is no equivalent to C) (I don’t think you can really be a “freelance doctor” without any degree).
Well, of course it depends on what it is about being a doctor I value. If I want to help sick people become healthy, for example, there are lots of equivalents to C.
Admittedly, the most effective ones don’t involve practicing medicine, which falls into the “go do something else” category. But even if I what I want is to help sick people become healthy by practicing medicine, there are still equivalents to C—there are plenty of areas full of sick people who can be helped to become healthy through the practice of medicine without a degree.
There just isn’t a lot of status or money in doing that.
If we compare the education/career paths:
A) Go to medical school, become a doctor
B) Go to college, study engineering or business or whatnot, then work in a tech company or even start one yourself
C) Drop out and just start a company straight away
… then the same kind of people might be interested in B) and C), and for them, C) might be better than B). For doctors, there is no equivalent to C) (I don’t think you can really be a “freelance doctor” without any degree). The path to ‘Doctor’ goes through A) only, the path to ‘Tech Entrepreneur’ goes through both B) and C) (The path to “Lawyer” isn’t very branchy either).
Though if you mean, it may still be better for some people who were considering medical school to drop that and go do something else, then I don’t disagree, I don’t know enough about the advantages of various careers.
(I’m having trouble figuring out whether we are disagreeing, and if so, about what)
You can’t, but basically I’m wondering whether Thiel means that as the only reason why “the time and cost of four years of college may be worth it”, or if he also thinks that the educational value justifies it.
Well, of course it depends on what it is about being a doctor I value. If I want to help sick people become healthy, for example, there are lots of equivalents to C.
Admittedly, the most effective ones don’t involve practicing medicine, which falls into the “go do something else” category. But even if I what I want is to help sick people become healthy by practicing medicine, there are still equivalents to C—there are plenty of areas full of sick people who can be helped to become healthy through the practice of medicine without a degree.
There just isn’t a lot of status or money in doing that.