395

Stupid ass private education bullshit

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] hightrix@lemmy.world 32 points 6 days ago

It doesn’t.

It takes time and effort to gain more knowledge. It has never been cheaper or more accessible to acquire knowledge than it is today.

To increase your intelligence, is another matter all together.

[-] Themosthighstrange@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

The library is free, my dude

[-] DegenerationIP@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago

Thats about certificated stuff from school. Knowledge has never been more accessible than today.

[-] tea@lemmy.today 3 points 6 days ago

It is wild to me that tuition is SO expensive and quality educational content is SO ubiquitous now. It does take a lot of time, skill, and effort to provide quality educational experiences, but man is it weird that it is simultaneously free and ridiculously overpriced.

[-] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

University is overpriced, but a degree isn't just saying that you've gained knowledge. Being able to look up and memorize stuff doesn't mean you'll be good employee. if you can't work effectively with a team or tend not to finish a project all the knowledge in the world means nothing.

The most important thing most degrees demonstrate is that you can work for years on a project with multiple milestones involving multiple disciplines, work with others or self-direct, and meet goals.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

alot of people fall into the trap of easy degree, like psychology, a studies/arts degree. yea you arnt going anywhere with a psych degree, if your not academically preparing for grad school like PSY-D, or psychology doctorate. i witnessed quite a few people that got a degree, and then complain about it. i had a cousin that did her psych degree properly, she has a PSY-D a while a go.

there is a suggestion going around in other forums,communities, that schools should start holding talks or seminars about different majors, and thier job prospects, but we know they wouldnt, because it would scare people away from these degrees that are money makers and coporations can abuse/exploit low wages for many fields.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] elbiter@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

I guess you're talking about the US.

Well, everything costs money there: education, health, safety... It's capitalist dystopia.

[-] Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

In Australia University used to be free. At some point they realised that Asia is close and has a virtually limitless supply of rich parents who want to pay big money for their kids to be lawyers and doctors.

Education is now one of Australia's main exports.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

same in US, most of them seek out international rich students, and you can see how much of these from the middle east and asian coming in with thier expensive cars to campus everyday. at the same time they neglect the rest of the students, so they dont prepare them for thier career track as there is very little resources directing to the departments, just enough to get by so the Professors and staff dont "revolt", they also abuse the adjunct positions to avoid paying them full time, or more benefits, if they can replace all the instructors with masters or BS level educations they would instead of getting PHDs. it all goes to wooeing international students, and sports. stem needs lab work as experience, but its so limited and small most graduating dont even know about it, or its extremely hard to get into. you can tell the university is being cheap if they use overworked professors to do advising.

[-] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 6 days ago

Formal education isn't for education but for the formal paper. There is so much information on the web, just learn from that. Also, libraries often times have material other than physical books

[-] sobchak@programming.dev 7 points 6 days ago

Formal education can be good for guidance. For learning the "unknown unknowns" as a famous scholar once said. Also, in terms of career, networking is the most important thing. The world is built on nepotism, unfortunately.

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 11 points 6 days ago

*in the US. In Germany a semester at my university costs about 300 Euros and that includes cheaper lunch and a ticket to use all public transport in the whole of Germany.

[-] Sirius006@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago

You're proud of giving students free ICE tickets? What is wrong with you???

[-] qarbone@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago
[-] lavander@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 6 days ago

I guess the joke is that in Germany the high speed train is called “ICE” (named that way way before the US department)

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] nandeEbisu@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

It doesn't. It costs money to skip a lot of the effort and have someone guide you through a curriculum and give you direct guidance and feedback on how to get that knowledge.

I have an Engineering degree, everything I learned there could absolutely be learned by someone curious poking around on the internet for videos, papers, and course slides that you'll probably need to read alongside a wiki page. They tend to come up pretty quickly once you're familiar enough with a field to start investigating one level deeper from a basic high school education.

[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 7 points 6 days ago

There are a lot more quality free learning resources than people realise.

[-] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

Honestly, there isn't hardly anything you couldn't learn on your own. But what higher education provides is structure. It can be very difficult to actually follow through with the education if you do not have scheduled classes, exams you have to study for, deadlines for projects/exams, etc

[-] stonkage@aussie.zone 2 points 6 days ago

One of the reasons some branches of learning are called "disciplines"

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 6 days ago

depends on the subject, math, engineering, stem need school, plus you cant really do experiments/ or lab work/procedures at home.

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 6 days ago

It doesn't. It costs money to get the diploma that's proof of your smarts. The Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz didn't actually get a brain, he got a diploma.

My son is a committed cinephile, and has systematically watched nearly every movie ever made, in any country, in any era ( it seems). He's an expert, by anyone's estimation. He just started back to college for a degree in Film Studies, because while he has the knowledge, in order to get a job teaching film, or working in an archive, etc., he needs the degree.

So you aren't buying the knowledge, any person who makes a serious commitment can get the knowledge, you are paying for an organization ( a school) to endorse your knowledge. Kind of a Certificate of Authenticity for your intelligence.

[-] Thoven@lemdro.id 5 points 6 days ago

Essentially, because it takes labor to create educational material. Unless you own slaves labor isn't free. And in fact with the modern library and Internet access I'd argue self educating is more accessible than ever in history.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

Because knowledge is power.

But also it depends. Learn on the job is a thing too in some industries, and in some people can do quite well for themselves here.

It also costs money to make money, if you have a lot of it you can make it work for you and make even more than someone who doesn't have it. This is why kids of rich ass parents get it so easy.

[-] Toneswirly@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

an important rule of capital is that in order to get it, you must have it

[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 6 days ago

Where im from we have libraries and the internet. Now getting job skills. that is a tough one.

[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Getting smarter doesn't really cost much. Public libraries exist, go read books and get smarter.

University degrees though... Yeah, those are fucked up.

Or you could emigrate to the EU, where higher education is free.

[-] paranoia@feddit.dk 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Or you could emigrate to the EU, where higher education is free.

You're probably not getting into the EU easily without higher education, and they don't educate non-EU citizens for free. Even if you get EU citizenship you will still probably have to pay until you've been resident for X number of years.

[-] myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 days ago

The same reason it costs money for food and water. God created both before man. And yet here we are, paying for things we need to survive. Because capitalism is just super.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 days ago

You don't need to pay for either. Collect and treat your own water from a stream. Go hunting or foraging.

At the end of the day you are paying for the convenience to not have to do that.

[-] myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 days ago

Let me just go farm on my apartment balcony or hunt in the local park. Not everyone has access to game lands and a yard.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

Good lord, you expect everything to just be free? To expect you get basic needs at zero cost is a tad out of touch with reality. I get it, nothing is fair, but you are looking at this all wrong.

[-] myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 days ago

Nah. I’m just replying because it’s making you angry and it’s funny at this point.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

Weird, I don't feel angry, if anything you probably got an eye roll out of me lol

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

You were complaining about paying for things needed to survive. It's nobodies problem but your own that you love in an apartment. The cost of that type of dwelling. Speaking of, you don't need to live there either and pay for a mortgage or rent. You have the option to build your own shelter in the woods. But it's pretty nice to not have to do that right?

[-] darkmogool@feddit.org 3 points 6 days ago

gatekeeping

[-] Ultraword@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago

It was never about paying to get smarter. The original purpose of universities/higher education is long gone. It is now about paying to be accepted by high society and indoctrinating you. As Rockefeller said, I want a nation of workers, not thinkers.

[-] blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Because billionaires have an interest in remaining billionaires, and if everyone was smart, there'd be more people tearing down the structures that consolidate wealth and maintain wealth inequality.

[-] CatDogL0ver@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Private lessons don't make you smarter. They just make you more well equipped with.

I am a lifetime student. I am not smarter. I am not a smarty pant

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 6 days ago

1 on 1 is definitely more beneficial than 1 teacher to 100+ students.

[-] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago

Depends on the teacher and the conditions. If I can afford either a semester of lectures or a one time two hour personal tuition, I would choose the lecture.

[-] Hellahunter@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Because capitalism

[-] balance8873@lemmy.myserv.one 1 points 6 days ago

Cause people will pay it

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
395 points (100.0% liked)

Showerthoughts

37893 readers
352 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS